His Turn To Save Her
by MaRsKiLLeRs
Summary: What happens if Persona meets Mikan and is able to convince her to train with him? Before she realises what happens, it's already far too late. Guess who's the only one able to save her?
1. Meeting

**A/N: This is my first fanfic, so please bear with me if parts seem OOC. Tell me what you think about it, I'm open for ideas as my story line is still in its first stage.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice, even if I sometimes wish I do...**

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**Chapter 1 - Meeting**

Mikan came running down the corridor after lunch break. She was late for Jinno-sensei's class. Again! Breathing heavily, she ran around a corner – and bumped into someone.

"Watch it, polka-dots, before I burn your hair", Natsume said, frowning. Before the girl could answer, he walked past her and entered the classroom.

Sighing, Mikan stood up and opened the door. Her math teacher turned to her and said

"Late again, Miss Sakura. This will mean another detention. Talk to me after class."

"But Natsume…"

"Stop complaining or I will be forced to judge you harder. You are lucky that I am in a good mood today."

With that, he continued his lesson. Mikan wasn't in the mood to get shot by her best friend's Baka-gun and simply took her seat next to her partner, resting her head on her arms. She felt tired and had deep shadows under her eyes. Yesterday had been a rough night since she had to learn for an upcoming test. Why did she always have to come late? She didn't do it on purpose.

"Your fault, polka-dots. You shouldn't mess with teachers and just come here on time. Idiot."

Natsume expected her to be shouting at him for calling her that, but she didn't. She just looked at him, a sad smile on her face, and said, almost too quiet for him to hear

"I know..."

At that moment, the young boy wished he hadn't said anything. He had a strange feeling he couldn't describe. Annoyed, he shook his head and spent the rest of the lesson ignoring her.

The bell finally rang, and Koko asked

"Who wants to go to Central Town?"

Natsume left the classroom; he had to go on a mission today but hadn't told Ruka so he wouldn't be worried.

In the end, Mikan, Hotaru, Anna, Yuu and Nonoko agreed to come with him.

"How about you, Ruka-pyon?" Mikan asked, being her cheerful self again.

Even though she would have to do garden service later that afternoon, she smiled happily at the thought of going shopping.

"Sure, why not. I guess Natsume wants to be alone for a while, since he left after the bell rang."

Mikan, who hadn't noticed that, said

"I'll go look for him. I think I know where he is, just wait for me at the bus station."

She then ran off, leaving the others behind.

Hotaru had a knowing smile on her face, but as usual, said nothing.

Mikan was at the Sakura tree, where Natsume usually sat reading his mangas, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead, a mysterious person stood there, wearing a mask. She walked innocently to him, asking

"Have you seen Natsume? He often sits here."

The man simply looked at her, then said

"You have the nullification alice, am I right?"

"Yes… I wished I had something like Natsume though, or Hotaru. I don't know what to do with this power, it doesn't seem to have a use."

"Don't say that, I think that you have a quite extraordinary alice. If you want, I can show you. I can help you get better at it, just like Natsume. How does that sound?"

Mikan looked up at him, her face lighting up in a smile.

"You would do that? I would really want to learn how to use the nullification. I will work hard and be a good student. I want to become as good as the others, so that I can help and protect them. What is your name?"

"Persona."

Again, Mikan smiled, and Persona stretched out his hand. The little girl hesitated, then said

"I'm supposed to meet with my friends now and go to Central Town…"

"You can go later, can't you?"

"No, I have detention", she said her voice dropping a little. She didn't want to admit from the beginning that she wasn't a very good student.

"That doesn't matter, I will talk to your teacher and ask them to dismiss this punishment. If not, they could postpone it. As for your friends, you can go to Central Town another day", he said, smiling to win her trust.

He would lose it fast enough anyway, just like Natsume's. Mikan thought for a moment, the nodded.

'For my friends', she thought.

Then, she took hold of his hand and followed him deeper into the woods.

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** Yay that was chapter one!!**

**Hope you liked it, please review!**


	2. First Lesson

**Hey, thanks to all those who reviewed, it really encouraged me a lot!! I got one question concerning Mikan's age, and I can tell you that they are older than in the manga. You will soon find out her age in one of the following chapters.**

**Anyways, here's chapter two. Enjoy!**

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**Previously:**

'_For my friends', she thought. _

_Then, she took hold of his hand and followed him deeper into the woods._

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**Chapter Two – First Lesson**

"Where is that idiot now?" Hotaru wondered loudly. "I don't want to waste my time waiting. Unlike her, I am a very busy person."

"Maybe she found Natsume and now they're having fun together" Koko answered, his eyes twinkling. At that Ruka blushed.

"Then let's give them a bit of privacy, shall we? Let's go! If they still want to come, they can catch up, I guess."

"Yeah, let's go! Central Town is waiting for us!"

"If that moron shows up, I'm going to shoot her with my Baka-gun"

The bus came, and they had a very pleasant afternoon. Only Ruka kept on thinking about Mikan and his best friend, but soon, even he forgot about it and enjoyed his time with his friends.

Meanwhile, the young brunette was deep inside of the forest with a certain masked man.

'Good thing that Natsume is on a mission today', Persona thought, 'he would have held me back. The way he sometimes looks at that girl makes me wonder…'

"Sensei!!!" He was interrupted in his thoughts by the loud voice Mikan. "Are we there yet? I'm scared…"

He tightened his grip around her arm. "Almost there."

They stopped on the borders of a meadow, not very large, but not too small either. There were traces of burnt grass and trees everywhere, and in one corner, some of the flowers were dead.

'What happened here?' she wondered, suddenly frightened of everything around her.

"What you see here are only remnants of the training a student received yesterday. Don't worry too much about, the trees here grow fast. We should start your training soon too, as I don't have much time. I am waiting for a student to return from an important…task. Do you have any questions?"

"How are you going to train my alice? My sensei in my Special Ability Class told me that there is no other method of training as practice."

"He doesn't know everything, does he?" Persona's voice was full of contempt. "I have a found a more effective way of dealing with still unknown alices, you will see very soon. Now, if you would just follow my instructions. I will use my alice and make these flowers in front of me die, just like the ones in the back. All you have to do is stop me."

Persona held his hand over the plant, and as his finger touched the blossom turned to ashes in a matter of seconds.

"What are you doing? STOP!"

Mikan threw herself at Persona, closing her eyes. He couldn't do that! Why would he kill these plants?

Some kind of wave came out of her, washing through the whole place.

The burned patches and dead flowers were gone. Instead, a fresh breeze made the flowers sway from one side to another. Everything looked peaceful.

'How interesting. Her power is far better than I had expected. Not only can she nullify the effects of an alice that is in use momentarily, but she can also reverse the outcome even if it's a day old. If I train it properly, she would be able to reverse almost everything. Good that I found her at such an early stage. They would have spoiled her with nonsense, and then she would have been no use to me.'

He looked at the girl who was lying on the ground. She seemed exhausted, but then opened her eyes. Persona forced a smile on his lips.

"You scared me, sensei! I wasn't prepared for that! Are you mad at me?"

"No, quite the contrary, that was very impressive, Mikan. You have great potential, but you seem to be very tired right now. I think that we should stop for today. I will let you know when our next lesson is very soon. Until then, don't tell anyone about this or any other meeting we shall have in future."

Even though she very tired, the little girl smiled happily.

"So did I pass the test?"

The dark man couldn't help but be amazed by the innocence of this child.

"Just look around you. You have healed all the trees and flowers in this area, even though they were already one day old. Not everyone would have been able to do that. As I told you, I am waiting for one of my students to return and report to me. You are dismissed for now. You could go get some rest in your room, don't worry about your detention today. Before I forget, have this pill. It will make you remember the way to this secret place, and it has a lot of other different uses that I will tell you sometime."

Mikan took it and swallowed it without hesitation. She felt dizzy for a moment, then regained control over her senses and smiled again.

"Goodbye!" she shouted, running off to the school campus.

'I will have to change something about this innocence of hers. This won't last for long, I already know that. The pill will make her sleep the rest of the afternoon and through the night. It will make things easier for me and teach her the basics of her power and give her some control. The rest, she will learn from me.

'I wonder how she will turn out in the end.'

With these thoughts in mind, he placed himself under the shadow of a tree, waiting for Natsume's arrival.

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** That was chapter two!!**

**I think that I will be able to post the next one by tomorrow, so keep tuned. Any ideas or questions are very welcome.  
**


	3. Darkness

**This chapter turned out rather short, sorry for that. I felt that there was nothing more to add to it and it actually is just some kind of link from one chapter to the next. Still, it explains quite a lot about her change of personality.**

**Here it is! **

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'_I wonder how she will turn out in the end.'_

_With these thoughts in mind, he placed himself under the shadow of a tree, waiting for Natsume's arrival._

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**Chapter Three – Darkness**

Mikan was on her way to the Sakura tree, not wanting to go to her room yet, even though Persona had told her to.

She got out her sketchbook and her pencil and started drawing everything around her. The young girl loved to draw. She then could have a break from others and express what she was feeling without words. Her art wasn't bad at all, her strokes were lively and full of happiness.

She suddenly stopped and looked at what she had drawn. There was the school building, trees and plants surrounding it.

Thoughtful, Mikan turned the pages and looked at her previous work. The pages were filled with sunshine that she didn't feel at that moment. She felt angry and tore the pages out one by one, furious for no apparent reason.

Darkness. She felt the urge to draw something dark, but powerful. The only thing she could think of was a black cat. As she drew it, she started to cry and thought of a person who wouldn't stop teasing her.

Mikan realised that she couldn't take it any longer. She couldn't always be there for others, always smiling, always trying to cheer them up. All she got were bad words from those she loved.

At that moment, the young girl couldn't think of all the nice moments she had shared with her friends.

Her tears were falling on the paper, a never-ending stream which relieved her from her desperation.

Suddenly, she felt dizzy again, dizzy and nauseous. She had to support her head against the tree, closing her eyes.

Her pencil slipped from her fingers, rolling on the grass, and she fell into a state she would only wake up of in the early morning.

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**As I didn't read much of the manga (I really will have to do that soon!!), I don't know anything about a pill. This was just a random idea, but I think it fits well enough. (I got questions wondering about whether it was the same pill as Natsume got).  
**


	4. Moonlight

**I kind of like this chapter becuase of NATSUME!!!**

**Yay, and it's longer than the last one, so enjoy! **

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**Previously:**_  
_

_Suddenly, she felt dizzy again, dizzy and nauseous. She had to support her head against the tree, closing her eyes. _

_Her pencil slipped from her fingers, rolling on the grass, and she fell into a state she would only wake up of in the early morning. _

**Chapter Four – Moonlight**

"I am back from my mission." The black cat said, facing Persona in the meadow.

"Good. Did anything else happen?" His piercing gaze scanned Natsume's face after taking off his mask.

'He's going to be mad if I tell him, but it will be worse if I don't' he thought frantically. On the outside, he stayed calm.

"I had a bit of trouble with this one guy, so I only got three of the four requested stones. I think that they moved the last one to a closed building on an island, protected by strong alices. I won't be able to break through them, I think. Someone else will have to do that."

With that, he turned away, ready to get attacked by Persona. But all the mysterious man did was chuckle darkly.

"Oh yes, someone else will have to do that… Leave now. I will not punish you for your mistake, but make sure it won't happen ever again."

Natsume was surprised. Something must have happened during his absence.

"Whatever." Walking away, h thought of s certain girl. Her innocence made him sick, yet it was cute, her happiness was a constant reminder of how he had to stay away from her. He was too different. He was too _dark_.

He sighed heavily and looked out towards the Sakura tree. There she was, sitting cross-legged, paper scattered all around her. He could only see a part of her, her head resting against the tree trunk, eyes closed. Natsume was about to snap at her; what was she doing in his spot anyway?

"Oi, polka-dots!"

No reaction.

"Stand up and leave, stupid, will ya? How many times do I have to tell you not to come here?!"

Still, the young girl didn't move. How strange. Even if she was sleeping, she should have woken up by now.

Natsume was now facing her pale figure and looked down at her with concern. She hadn't looked very well in the morning already, but now, her features were unnaturally white.

The moon then came out behind the clouds and shone brightly on her face, showing traces of tears on her cheeks. At that moment, she looked so vulnerable that Natsume had to fight the urge to take her in his arms and to never let go of her again.

"Stupid girl", he muttered. "What did you do to yourself again?"

With his finger, he softly followed the wet lines on her face which lead down to her neck. He then looked at the sketchbook she was still holding in her lap. Pages were ripped out of it, every single one of them representing something happy and cheerful. All of them were now lying around her on the grass, lifeless.

The only picture still in the book was the one of a black cat. The only thing that could be seen well were the eyes. The rest was black, the paper stained with tears.

Natsume tore his gaze away from the haunting eyes and looked at the peaceful girl in front of him. He tried to wake her up by shaking her, but it didn't help.

"I would love to leave you here, but I wouldn't be able to sleep myself if I did that." He whispered, more to himself than anyone else.

He then picked her up in his arms, her head close to his chest. He didn't expect her to be that light and looked down at her sweet face.

Then, he collected all of the drawings, put them inside the sketchbook and tucked it under his arm. Slowly, he made his way to her room, which location he knew very well. The door was unlocked, and so he pushed it open and gently laid her on the bed, covering her with the blankets. The moon was shining on her face until it suddenly disappeared again behind the clouds.

"No" she suddenly said, frowning. "Don't leave."

"I'm here…Mikan."

She threw her head from one side to another, restless and agitated.

Natsume brushed the hair out of her face, holding his hand soothingly to her cheek. Her skin was cold as ice.

The brunette seemed to relax a little. A weak smile slowly spread on her lips.

Natsume left her lying there, taking a last look at her sleeping form before he left the room.


	5. Choice

**As this is a very short chapter (for which I apologise), I will post the next chapter sooner than this time. This is only the dream Mikan has in the night Natsume brought her to her room, so yeah...**

** Here comes chapter 5!  
**

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**Previously:**

_The brunette seemed to relax a little. A weak smile slowly spread on her lips. _

_Natsume left her lying there, taking a last look at her sleeping form before he left the room._

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**Chapter Five - Choice**

Mikan was running. Everything around her was bright. The sun was shining.

'Out of here' was the only thing the brunette could think of. 'This place is bad for me.'

She came to the border of two different places. One was dark, suiting the way she felt inside. She had to get there. And yet, so tempting it was, she still hesitated and stopped. She turned around.

There they stood: Hotaru, Ruka, Nonoko, Anna, Yuu, Koko, even Sumire. But the person she was desperately looking for was missing. Yet, she couldn't remember who he was. The only important thing was that he wasn't there for her. He never had been, was, and never would be.

Mikan closed her eyes. It was time to let go what she always had thought what she had. Now she knew better. She would always love and protect them, do everything in her power to keep them safe, but nothing more. What was the use of loving someone who would never return this feeling? One day, she would have realised that anyway. She had to live her own life, go her own way.

She turned around and took one step towards the other side.

"Mikan…"

The voice she so badly longed to hear was whispering her name. She turned around and saw nothing. Her friends stood there, unmoving, looking at her through empty eyes.

She took in a breath, then took another step. Suddenly, tears were streaming down her face. She didn't wipe them away; they were flowing down her face freely.

"I am here…Mikan".

"Don't turn around", another voice suddenly said in front of her. The young girl looked up. Persona. He was holding out his hand towards her.

"Take it. You want to protect them, don't you? Take my hand."

His hand was almost reaching here, even though it wasn't crossing the line between darkness and light.

Still she hesitated. She knew she hadn't given up hope yet.

'How pathetic. I must move on', she thought, pressing her eyes shut. Without opening them, she reached out until the tips of her fingers were touching those of the masked man in front of her. A little bit more. His strong fingers enclosed hers in a tight grip, and he smiled. A shiver ran down her spine.

She took one more step and was on the other side.

A raven-haired boy with amber eyes was running. As fast as he could. But even that wasn't good enough. He was too late. He saw the brunette taking a final step to the side he had been on for the last years. He had been there until she had come.

She had saved him. But he had failed. He was too late.

Mikan had made her choice.

She was gone.

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**Don't forget to review:  
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	6. Thirteen

**I'm really sorry if last chapter was unclear to some of you. it's just that for me, it wasn't, and so I didn't feel the need to explain.**

**I will do so now.**

**It's actually a dream she has the night after taking the pill, and it shows the effect it has on her. She already was depressed when she was under the tree, thinking that no one would love her, even though she likes all of them.**

**I guess that she comes to think that it is because of her not-so-powerful Alice, and so when she comes to the border-line of Persona's side, no one holds her back.**

**He also tells her that he will teach her how to protect her friends, and so she takes his hand and leaves with him.**

**I hope that everyone realised that it's Natsume's voice she wanted to hear, subconsciously, because she would never admit that anyways.**

**The last bit about the raven-haired boy seeing her going to the other side is about Natsume never wanting anything happen to Mikan, least of all PERSONA, and now that has come true.**

**If there is still something unclear, tell me.**

**As for now, here is the next chapter. It also tells us about Mikan's age. **

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**Previously:**

_She had saved him. But he had failed. He was too late. _

_Mikan had made her choice._

_She was gone._

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**Chapter Six - Thirteen**

Mikan woke up with a start. She shuddered. A look on her alarm clock told her that it was 4 o'clock in the morning.

'Great', she thought, falling out of the bed. She rubbed her head and groaned. This day really had to be the most unlucky day that existed. 'Just great.'

After doing her morning routine, she thoughtfully looked at herself in the mirror. Her pigtails were starting to annoy her. She took off her hair bands, throwing them carelessly on the floor. She the proceeded in brushing out her hair until it was smooth and then simply tied it up in a messy bun.

Finally, she untied the ribbon around her neck and left it dangling, since she wasn't allowed to take it off.

Finding nothing else to do, she took a walk in the park around the buildings and finally sat down on a bench. Taking out her sketchbook from her bag, she drew the forest in front of her, focusing on the dark parts and the shadows.

Natsume was standing at the corner of the corridor, waiting for the idiot to bump into him, coming late as usual. But she didn't. Shrugging, he turned around and walked through the door. Not his problem.

And yet, he was disappointed. He hadn't slept well last night and was double annoyed at his thoughts. Why should he be disappointed if that idiot over-slept as usual?

But as he entered, he saw her sitting at her usual place next to him. She turned around and he thought that she was going to greet him, but she just looked at him for less than a second and turned her attention back to the front.

"Yo polka-dots, don't you know that it's rude not to greet people when they come in?"

Faces turned to him in surprise.

"Look who's talking", she simply said, not even bothering to look at him.

That caught him off-guard. He turned to Ruka and asked

"What's up with that one?"

"I don't know. Since she came in she's been acting all strange. When we tried to give her her presents…

_Mikan opened the door. _

"_Happy Birthday Mikan!" her friends all shouted in unison. _

"_You're early, I never would have expected you to come at this time!"_

"_Surprised?" the brunette simply asked in a cold voice. "Well. To your information, even an _idiot _like me manages to come on time occasionally."_

_Nonoko, who had just come in, screamed "Happy 13th Birthday Mikan!"_

_She ran over to her and tried to hug her, but the other girl didn't hug her back._

"_Mikan? Is something wrong?" she asked in a concerned voice._

"_Leave the baka alone. Probably just a mood swing." Hotaru said, seemingly careless. Only Ruka noticed the concern in her voice._

"_Yeah. Just listen to the _smart _one" Mikan answered, emphasizing the word 'smart'._

_She then sat down, ignoring them._

_Ruka stepped forward, handing her a present. "I thought you might like it…" He stopped, not knowing what to say next. _

_Her friends all looked at Koko, but he was clueless. For the first time, he wasn't able to read someone's thoughts. _

_Hesitantly, they all deposited their gifts on her table. _

"_Thank you", she said, warmer this time, but still with the cold gleam in her eyes._

_The group looked at each other, then simply started talking about this and that, but only half-heartedly._

_Everyone had one thing in their mind: 'What is wrong with Mikan?'_

_Hotaru looked at her friend from the corner of the eye. She didn't like the change in her hairstyle, or the fact that her ribbon was untied. Something definitely had happened. She decided to question Natsume. Had he done anything yesterday afternoon?_

Natsume started to worry. That was definitely **not** normal at all.

"Your hairstyle doesn't suit you at all, idiot. Go back to your weird pigtails"

When she didn't answer, he nearly shouted at her.

"What is wrong with you? Can't you just be your annoying self? Everyone is worried!"

"Whatever."

A fireball appeared in the palm of his hands. "Mikan."

Her head shot around, her eyes widened in shock, but only for a split second. After they regained their initial expression, he wasn't sure of what he had seen anymore.

At that moment, Narumi-sensei came in. The fire went out.

"Good morning class! Happy Birthday Mikan!"

"I'm getting sick of this" she muttered, almost inaudibly. Almost. Natsume, his senses sharpened after his missions, was the only one who heard it.

"I'm outta here. Please excuse me."

Without another word, she slowly walked out of the class.

Everyone looked at the door which closed behind her. No one said a word.


	7. Safe?

**Guess what, I finally managed to make a longer chapter!!**

**Since nobody said anything, I guess that everyone understood the chapter about Mikan's dream. **

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**Previously:**

"_I'm outta here. Please excuse me."_

_Without another word, she slowly walked out of the class._

_Everyone looked at the door which closed behind her. No one said a word._

_**----------**  
_

**Chapter Seven – Safe?**

After a few steps, Mikan started running. She didn't care about the few students who turned in her direction. All she wanted to do was to stay in peace. And the best place for that was the Sakura tree.

As she reached it, she knew that it was the most obvious location she would be in, and her friends would find her easily. So she climbed up the branches and sat in between all the leaves, thinking about what had happened this morning.

And even though she felt different, Mikan was still Mikan. She didn't want everyone to worry or to notice that something was different. They would end up asking her, and she had promised Persona that she wouldn't tell anyone about their meetings.

She knew that she was very bad at lying. She discovered that sometimes, it's not bad to have secrets. Everyone she knew had them. She would have to start having some too.

If only Mikan had known that difficult times were lying ahead. She would need someone to talk to more than ever.

The young girl felt strange as she was thinking all of this. These thoughts didn't seem to be hers.

She then just sat on the branch, her back resting against the trunk, her feet dangling. Time passed, and she must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she noticed were the voices of her friends calling her.

The brunette didn't answer.

"Mikan!! Where are you?"

Sighing, Mikan prepared to jump down. After all, she didn't want them to be worried.

That's when a young boy with black hair took hold of her arm; he was sitting on the branch on the opposite side.

"Found ya, polka. So, what's up with you?"

"I don't see why you should care. Let me go!"

His lips were near her ear, and she could feel his warm breath on her skin.

"Not unless you tell me what's wrong. I have time. I know that there is something. Now spit it out."

His hand was squeezing her arm tightly. It almost hurt.

"Leave me alone. And don't you dare touch me!"

"Oh, are you threatening me? Let's see. What now? I think I'll start by burning you hair. What about that?"

"Don't you dare, Natsume."

The sound of his name made him hesitate. He loosened his grip around her arm, and she tore herself away and pushed him back.

That made him angry. A fireball was sparkling in his hand less than a second later.

"Fine. Your hair."

He reached closer to her, his hand almost reaching its target. Then, something neither he nor the girl had expected happened. With a flick of her hand, the flame went out.

Natsume stared at his hand, while Mikan was looking at hers, bewildered.

'I nullified his alice', the girl suddenly realised.

The raven-haired boy felt weird for a moment, a state close to panic. For a second, he wasn't able to reach his powers. As if they simply weren't there.

"Well, how about _that_, Natsume-_kun_?" she said, her voice mocking.

The young boy just looked at her in shock. That wasn't Mikan. It couldn't be.

Suddenly, her eyes softened.

"I'm sorry. I'm having a headache right now, and I didn't mean it. I guess I'll be fine after a bit of rest."

She smiled at him.

Natsume looked at her more carefully. She did look sick, just like the day before. He couldn't help but wonder and ask himself what was wrong with her. Maybe it was nothing and she just hadn't had enough sleep?

On the outside, he stayed cool.

"Whatever. Your friends are looking for you."

Both turned away from each other and jumped down the tree at two different sides, walking away in two different directions.

They hadn't noticed that one person was standing nearby, hiding in the shadows. The masked man had heard everything.

But you couldn't tell if he was pleased by it or not.

'I think that it's time for another meeting. The pill seems to have worked well enough, but still. At this early stage, it's important for her to be under the right…influence'.

He grinned, satisfied, as he watched the young girl walk over to her friends.

"Hey guys! I'm here! Natsume just told me that you were looking for me? What is it?"

Her friends looked at each other. What was that all about?

"Seems that Imai was right", Ruka whispered. "That girl is definitely having mood swings."

Anna and Hotaru didn't seem convinced yet.

"You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just having a bit of a headache, is all. Wanna go to Central Town?"

Now that was really weird.

"Baka. Don't make everyone worry so much. You should have some rest now, you don't look good at all. And what's with your hair?"

"She doesn't want to say that it looks bad" Yuu intervened. "It's only strange that you decide to change hair style all of a sudden."

"I just felt like I had to make something different. Good, isn't it?"

She smiled brightly at her friends, who started to relax. Mikan seemed to be just fine.

"By the way, didn't you say that you saw Natsume? Where is he now?"

"I'm not sure, but I think that he wants to be alone right now. He seemed strange a moment ago."

'So did you', her best friend thought. But she kept quiet.

"I think the best thing for me is to go to my room and sleep. I feel really tired. Hope you don't mind." Mikan managed to day all that in a cheerful voice, then yawned.

Hotaru shot her with her Baka-gun. Don't yawn in public, it's rude. Now go before I hit you again."

"I'll come with you", Ruka offered.

"Yay, Ruka-pyon is coming with me! Let's go."

Mikan took hold of his arm and stormed off with him in direction of her room. Her friends look at the place she had been a second ago, puzzled.

"That girl will never change, will she?"

They should have known better than that.

In front of her room, the brunette let go of her friend's arm.

"Thanks for coming with me. I'll be fine now."

She saw some kind of movement at the end of the corridor, like a shadow, but as she looked closer, nothing was visible.

After the blonde boy left, she entered her room and closed her door, sliding down to the floor. She had her knees up to her chin, her arms wrapped around her legs. She didn't feel well at all.

Outside in the corridor, a raven-haired boy stood in front of her door, staring at it. He had a weird feeling. Shrugging it off, he passed the room and went outside to sit down under the Sakura tree. Whatever it was, the brunette was safe for now.

He couldn't have known that at that moment, she found a note on her bed telling her to meet someone.

Someone he knew very well.

Mikan sighed heavily. She seemed to do that a lot lately. Looking down at the piece of paper, she considered her options.

She could ignore the message and go to sleep as planned, but that would upset Persona and not give him a good starting image of her.

She merely shrugged and headed to the door. It wouldn't be too bad, and she had the whole night in front of her to sleep.

On her way, she couldn't stop thinking about Natsume.

How come he always knew where to find her? In the past 2 years, the two of them had gotten a bit closer, but only as much as Natsume's distant behavior would allow.

The moment she had felt something between them, he had always come back to the way he was before.

Mikan had always been open with him, and yet he had rejected her. The young girl closed her eyes and leaned against a wall for a moment, as if searching for support.

'I will not bother him anymore' she thought. 'Whatever it is that keeps him locked up, I will not try to discover his secrets.'

Continuing on her way, she couldn't help but look out for the Sakura tree.

There he was, lying on the ground with a manga book covering his face. Even though she couldn't see his face, she thought that he looked peaceful that way.

Shaking off her thoughts, she went to meet her new sensei.

He was already at the meadow, waiting.

Faking a friendly smile, he walked over to her.

"Mikan, how glad am I to see you. How are you today? You look really tired."

"I'm not sure. I feel strange since yesterday, and I have been acting weird. I didn't mean to worry my friends or be so distant, it's just that…"

She started to sob uncontrollably.

'It seems to be working' Persona thought, pleased.

"There, there, I'm sure it will pass. I hope you didn't tell anyone about our meetings, did you?"

"No, I didn't. But tell me why I shouldn't. I mean, this isn't a secret or something bad, is it?"

"Oh no, but it's best that way. You wanted to train your alice, but some of your friends might not approve. They might think that you overwork yourself. But that's nonsense. I have faith in your abilities. _Trust me._"

"Alright." She smiled weakly, even though she had a weird feeling about everything.

"Well then. Let us begin with our lesson. The last one was already very good. Now, if you please go over there and…"

And so started the lesson. Mikan had thought that she was only going to learn about controlling her alice. As she discovered, she could now more easily access her powers and use it to stop Persona from harming the plants.

Still, soon after, she felt terribly exhausted. But she wouldn't give up. She would try her best.

"You have already made progress. Well done. But there is something that I haven't told you last time. I want you to learn the basics of the martial arts."

"But why? I thought that I was going to improve only my alice. Why should I now learn something that I don't really need?"

'This girl and her questions… Still, her character has changed. She talks less and doesn't believe anything as quickly as before."

"Well, you see, to get the maximum control over your alice, it is also best to have control over your body and enough strength to be able to bear some…pain."

Mikan's eyes widened, then she regained her composure. Persona would have expected her to argue some more, but she didn't.

"Well, if that is the case… Let's begin then."

The masked man went to stand in front of her.

At that time, in Imai's lab.

"Bye guys, thanks for coming and helping me. This new invention sure will help me get a lot of money."

The others only looked at her in disbelief before they left her room. Hotaru turned her back to them, put her hands on the table and clenched her fists.

She was thinking about Mikan.

"Is everything alright?"

The young girl whirled around. Ruka was standing in the doorway, a concerned look on his face.

"Yes", she snapped, but instantly regretted it.

Then, she looked away and sat down on her bed. Ruka looked at her for a few seconds, then joined her and sat down.

"What is it? Please tell me, and I will try to help you."

"It's really nothing. But since I know her, I can't help it but worry. That idiot doesn't know what the right things in life are. Most of the time, I'm worrying for nothing, and that's what makes me so distant, but this time, I don't know what it is. I…"

At a loss of words, she looked into his eyes.

He looked back.

**--------------------**

**Yay!! I wonder, what happens next?**

**Don't worry, I'll update soon enough!! **


	8. Excuses And Secrets

**I have some things to say before we begin.**

**Here the most important one: Thanks a lot to all those who reviewed and favorited my story, it means a lot to me, and special thanks to lysabelle, karupin-san and may520 who have been supporting me from the very beginning. I should have put that earlier, but now I did it. THANK YOU :-) **

**Secondly: I need a name for a character. Don't worry, he won't be in love with Mikan, he is just someone who helps her when Natsume is not there and gets to be a good friend, but nothing more. He has black hair with a hint of red in them, emerald green eyes and is 15 years old. You will get to know his alice very soon as he will be appearing in one of the following chapters. Please send me ideas for names, I will use the one I like the most. Thank you once again.  
**

**Now, something about the past chapter. The movement in the shadow that Mikan saw is actually Natsume who followed her and Ruka, when they went back to her room. ;)**

**Ok, so this A/N is longer than I intended it to be, but there is the next chapter. Enjoy! **

**-------------------- **

**Previously:**

_At a loss of words, she looked into his eyes._

_He looked back._

_**----------** _

**Chapter Eight – Excuses And Secrets**

Hotaru quickly avoided his gaze.

"You should go now. I want to be alone."

"No you don't, Imai, I can see it. I...I can't watch it anymore. You don't have to be alone, you know. There are other people here as well, people who are willing to help. Friends."

"What are you talking about?" the young girl said, her bangs covering her eyes.

Then, Ruka did something he always had wanted to do, since the moment he had given up hope on a certain brunette. He had realised that she wasn't fit for him, but that someone else was.

He took her in his arms, holding her tightly.

I don't care if you are going to push me away', he thought, desperation filling his heart. He knew that Hotaru was different from the other girls, and that her reactions could be unexpected.

And that's exactly what happened next.

She didn't push him away.

She snuggled deeper into the embrace, as if not willing to ever let go of him again.

"You didn't expect me to do that, now did you?", she asked, her voice low because she was speaking into his chest.

Ruka was speechless. But, instead of admitting that he was, he simply stroked her hair. It had grown to her shoulders in the past few years and was now smooth and glossy, just like silk.

Just like he had imagined it to be.

"You can tell me everything. I am going to be here for you, no matter what. I will understand and try to help you as good as I can. Hotaru?"

One single tear had formed on the corner of her eye.

"Oh, Ruka..."

"No, don't" he said, softly.

Gently, with the tip of his finger, he brushed away the single drop that was hanging from her eyelash.

"What do you always say to Mikan? You look ugly when you cry? I wouldn't say that to you, but the truth is, you look even more beautiful when you smile..."

Ruka felt strange, then embarrassed. What was he really talking about?

He turned his head away, not wanting to show the slight tint that had started to stain his cheeks. He heard her chuckle softly, then her warm hand was holding his cheek, tilting his head in her direction.

He looked down at her, a small smile forming on her lips.

As she spoke again, her voice was gentle, but she couldn't help being ironic.

"Better?"

He smiled back.

"Much better."

Ruka spent the rest of the afternoon in her room, her head resting on his shoulder, their hands entwined, sometimes talking and sometimes in silence.

Outside of the room, Anna and Nonoko sighed happily. Koko was grinning widely, while Yuu was simply feeling guilty.

Mikan fell on the ground, again. Breathing heavily, she heaved herself up, not willing to surrender. Her body was covered in bruises, and she had a small cut on her wrist.

It wasn't deep, but was bleeding quite a lot and stung.

'That stupid rock! Because of it, I can't use my hand properly.' She looked up, her eyes fierce.

To the young girl's surprise and Persona's delight, she had some kind of talent for what he had thought would be so difficult for him to teach her. The only thing she needed was experience and practice.

'And maybe another pill to give her some endurance.'

He snickered under his breath, then proceeded in giving the brunette a demonstration of what to do. She learned easily, but still wasn't strong enough to do him any harm.

"Let's stop for now. I think that you should try and practice a bit in your spare time, but you did very well in your first lesson. You have talent. That will save us a lot of time."

'And a lot of pain' he thought to himself.

"Now, I would appreciate if you would directly go to rest. Don't let anyone see your scratches or bruises, even though we can't do anything about those on your legs. Try and explain it as good as you can, and most importantly: don't change anything about your behaviour. It is important that no one notices, for reasons I have already explained to you."

Mikan looked at him for a couple of seconds, her face unreadable.

"As you wish."

She nodded, then started to walk away. Yet, she couldn't hide the limping on her left leg, the side Persona had attacked her more often. His strong side.

Clutching her left wrist, she went over to the edge of the woods. As she looked towards the Sakura tree, she found it deserted.

'Whatever' she thought, for no apparent reason.

After checking that no one was in sight, she half ran, half limped back to her room. It was almost night, maybe dinnertime, so almost no one was around.

Only once she had to quickly hide in the shadow of a doorway as two talking students appeared at the end of the corridor.

When she finally arrived in her room, she was too tired to change and simply threw herself on the bed, falling asleep immediately.

------------------------

The sun was shining brightly on the face of a sleeping brunette. It was late, not too late to still go to the classes, but too late to arrive on time.

The young girl woke with a start; her dream hadn't been a nice one. The problem was, she didn't know what it had been about.

She looked at the alarm clock that was standing on her bedside table and shrieked.

Her teacher in the morning was Jinno-sensei!

Attempting to jump out of bed, pain suddenly shot trough her whole body. A low cry escaped her lips as she landed on the floor.

She looked down at herself and discovered that she was bruised and recalled her training with Persona.

Hurriedly, she looked into the mirror and saw, relieved, that her face was clear. Her arms were covered by her sleeves, most of her legs by her socks, and she could hide her injured wrist under a handkerchief tied around it.

As she was late already, she took her time showering and getting ready. As she was drying herself, she noticed that whenever she touched her throat, it would sting.

She looked at it more closely in the mirror.

'Oh no' she thought.

A huge bruise that she hadn't noticed before, as it had been covered with her collar, was all over her skin.

'I'll just have to hide it under a scarf tied around my throat and pretend that I have a sore throat. That way, I won't have to talk a lot, which I don't feel like doing anyway, and have a good excuse.'

When she was done, she walked to her class as fast as she could.

Her legs were hurting immensely, and she had difficulties continuing.

'Damn you, Persona. I swear, I'm gonna…'

Cursing him in her head, she couldn't help but wonder why she had gone with him in the first place.

'Because I want to train my alice. In case something happens, I don't want to be the only one who needs to be protected by others. In case I don't want to meet with Persona anymore, I can just tell him that!'

She had reached her classroom door and opened it, walking in.

Without looking away from the board he was writing on, Jinno-sensei said with his usual grumpy voice

"Late again, Miss Sakura. And my question is: Why didn't you come to your detention I told you to go to? Because of that and what happened today, I will have to double what I had given you the last time _and _what I was going to give you today."

He smirked as he saw Mikan's expression, thinking that she was shocked because of the amount of work he had just given her. But the only thing she could think of was 'Why hadn't Persona talked to him as he had told me?'

But she didn't say anything, and simply walked over to her seat, deciding to ignore the fact that Persona had just "betrayed" her.

"I will see you after class then, I suppose?" the teacher said mockingly before resuming his lesson.

His frog just sat on his shoulder, looking stupid as ever.

Her head rested in her hand, she started thinking about past events and how she had started training with the masked man.

Natsume was looking at her from the corner of his eyes, taking in the subtle changes she had made this morning.

The coloured scarf tied around her neck looked rather pretty, her hair fitted her better the way it was tied now.

She looked as if she was thinking intently about something, and he really wanted to know what was going on in her head at that moment.

He wanted to ask Koko, but unfortunately, he was busy looking at Anna. Annoyed, the raven-haired boy shook his head.

"Anything wrong, my dear boy?" Jinno-sensei asked with a fake smile.

Natsume just stared at him darkly, holding his gaze until the teacher got uncertain, hurriedly proceeding in his lecture.

After the lesson, the class had to wait for Narumi-sensei, who, as usual, had decided to come late.

Sumire turned to Mikan and said in a low voice

"The nullification is finally deciding to make herself pretty, huh? Well too bad, because _I _will always be more beautiful than you. What is this anyway, this piece of cloth around your neck?"

"Jealous, are we?" the brunette asked, looking at her coolly.

Sumire gulped. "What is it with you in those days, Sakura? Trying to copy Natsume's attitude?"

Mikan just gave her a look, making the other girl uncomfortable.

"I've got a sore throat and can't be bothered wasting my breath with weirdos like you."

With that, she turned to her friends who looked at her.

Changing her tone of voice to let them forget her distant behaviour, she said.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late, I guess I won't be ale to go to Central Town with you. Jin-Jin and his detentions…"

She sighed, leaning back in her chair. That's when Nonoko noticed her bruised legs.

"What happened to your legs, Mikan? You look terrible" she said, worried once again for her friend's health.

"Oh, that's nothing" the brunette answered lightly. Natsume looked at her, unconvinced.

"What? It was the middle of the night and I got thirsty, so I went to walk over to the kitchen part of my room and banged my legs on the way. Then, there was no water in the jar so I had to get a new bottle and banged them again, and then the bottle was so high that I had to jump to get it, but I wasn't able to catch it and so it fell on me and then I had to…"

"Enough, you idiot!" Natsume said, looking annoyed Still, he was looking suspiciously at her knees, letting his gaze longer on them than necessary.

"What is wrong with you? Stop looking at my knees!"

"You don't seriously think that I was looking at them. I was thinking just now that they were the ugliest legs I've ever seen!"

"Natsume!!"

"Did you hear that, Natsume thinks that your legs are _uuuugly_" Sumire shouted, her voice triumphant.

Apparently, everything was back to normal again.

Apparently…

**--------------------**

**Don't forget to review!!**


	9. Bad News

**I am so so very sorry for this huge time gap.**

**I was actually planning on stopping writing this fanfiction.  
I also have to say... If I don't get any name suggestions for my new character, I will not continue, sorry for that.  
**

** You can find his description in the previous chapter.  
**

**Thanks a bunch for supporting me!**

**-------------------- **

**Previously:**

_Apparently, everything was back to normal again._

_Apparently…_

**Chapter Nine – Bad News**

Narumi-sensei finally decided to arrive, his never-ending (and by the way quite gay) smile on his lips.

"Hello class! As some of you might already know, it's almost Valentines Day! I am so excited!" His voice dropped to a low whisper, as if he was confiding them a big secret. "Personally, I think this is the best day of the year: flowers, chocolate, hearts, LOVE!! Aahh..."

He sighed dreamily, seeming to have completely forgotten the class.

In a low voice, Hotaru asked Ruka "Do you think I might get in trouble if I shoot him with my Baka-gun?"

The blonde boy looked at her, then started to chuckle.

"Go ahead, I don't mind, and I think that no one else would either."

The purple-eyed girl gave him a small smile and got her gun ready. Koko, who had seen that, pushed Anna with his elbow and the both started giggling.

Unfortunately for Hotaru, the teacher seemed to suddenly snap out of his reverie, focusing on the students in front of him.

"Oh yeah Mikan, I hope you are better now?"

"I'm fine. Right now, I've got a sore throat, but I guess it'll pass soon enough."

Narumi-sensei gave her one of his smiles (ugh, that guy really doesn't know where to stop) and said to the entire class

"I hope that every single one of you will prepare something for someone _special _to you."

Saying that, he looked at Natsume, then at the young girl sitting next to him. Then, he waved the students goodbye and hurried out of the room.

"Great" some of the boys muttered. "Valentines Day is in two weeks, and that one is getting all worked-up over it."

Some girls giggled, but most of them had a dreamy expression in their eyes. They were probably already busy making plans how to get on a date with the person "special" to them, as Narumi had said.

Mikan was about to say something to Hotaru, but found her deep in conversation with Ruka.

She smiled, happy for the two of them. If only it would be so easy for her. Natsume, seeing her smile, said in a cool voice

"No need to get excited, polka-dots. It was obvious that they were gonna get together one day."

"I know." She sighed. "I'm so happy for them. If only…" She drifted off in her own thoughts, thinking about someone.

"You should really finish your sentences, idiot, it seriously gets on my nerves. As for me, I'm leaving now."

'What had she been about to say?' he wondered.

"That teacher isn't going to come back, I suppose, and because I don't want to waste my time with someone like you –"

He left his sentence unfinished, standing up.

As he looked back in her face, he could see that she was hurt. Natsume cursed himself for doing that to her, but in the last few years, it had been the only possibility to keep her from getting too close to him, and in that way getting in danger.

Not wanting to see any more, he swiftly walked away, opened the door and was outside. He leaned against a wall, breathing in sharply.

"There, there, is something wrong, black cat?"

The young boy's head shot around. The worst person he knew was standing against a pillar, his masked face hidden in the shadows.

"What do you want?!"

"You seem to be very…upset. Well, because I know you very well-"

He was cut off by Natsume.

"You don't know anything about me, Persona!"

The masked man smirked.

"Anyway, I guess that you will not be willing to tell me what the matter is. Still, I have something to tell you, concerning your _work._"

The raven-haired boy stiffened.

"I just had one, and you can't make me go unless you want me to make a mistake again. And you know very well that I won't be able to get the last stone that I couldn't get last time. It's being protected by the strongest alices, and I bet that not even you would be able to break into that island!"

"Would you please calm down and listen to what I have to say?" Persona asked mockingly. Natsume clenched his fists.

"Good. Now, first of all, your mission is not going to be today, but in two weeks. It's going to be something simpler than the stones, you will just have to find out if the warehouse I spotted is one of the headquarters of the Anti Alice Organisation.

You know what to do. I will let you know the exact date."

Before Natsume could add anything, he vanished behind the trees.

Unnerved, he turned around and punched the wall, hard. His knuckles started bleeding.

He looked at them, detached, a hint of interest in his eyes, as if the pain shooting through his joints didn't have anything to do with him.

The bell rang and he suddenly realised that he had been standing next to the classroom door for quite a long time, staring at the wall without seeing it.

It opened, and a girl clumsily tripped out. Without thinking, he quickly held out his hand and catched the person. Somehow, his mind had been expecting someone else, but as he looked into the face, he stared back into the eyes of his fan club president.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!! Natsume-kun just caught me!!!!!!!! I love you too Natsume!!! This is the best day of my life!!!!"

Upon hearing that, he made a somewhat disgusted sound and dropped the shouting girl.

"Whatever."

"Waaa, Natsume-kun, why did you drop me??" Sumire wailed.

All the other fan girls were grinning evilly by now.

The raven-haired boy turned around, just to look past the girl sitting on the floor.

He could only catch a glimpse of a certain brunette running around a corner before she vanished.

"Damn."

**--------------------**

**As always, don't forget to review and thanks for reading! Don't forget to also leave name suggestions!**


	10. New Powers

**This chapter is a bit shorter, but I just couldnt help myself...  
Hope you like it though! **

**-------------------- **

**Previously:**

_He could only catch a glimpse of a certain brunette running around a corner before she vanished._

"_Damn."_

_**----------** _

**Chapter Ten –**** New Powers **

Mikan was running towards her room and locked herself in, wiping away a tear from her eye.

Why was Natsume always like that when talking to her?

Wasn't it enough that he insulted her, now he also had to take Sumire in his arms?

She tore the brightly coloured scarf from her throat, revealing an ugly bruise that had turned a greenish colour by now.

She eyed it carefully, then decided that it wouldn't matter anyway. It would help her gain control over her body and help her bear pain, just like Natsume.

Natsume…

Shaking her head, Mikan decided to skip classes for the day and to say that her sore throat was paining her.

In a way, it was true, but for that, she would have to go to the hospital wing.

She groaned. Great.

She got ready for going outside again, hiding any signs of her tainted skin.

Walking fast through the campus so that she wouldn't be stopped by anyone, she made her way to the infirmary.

As the nurses there already knew her from previous incidents, they believed her quickly and she made her way out again, happy to have a day off.

As she turned around a corner, she saw two 15-year-old students trying to get some money from a 12-year-old boy.

The sight made her angry. What were they thinking?

"You there, stop that!"

The two teenagers turned around to face her.

"Oh yeah? And what are _you_ going to do about that, little girl?" one of them asked in a mocking tone.

"This is my last warning. Back off" she said in a calm voice, which was even scarier than if she had shouted.

Uncertain, the two of them looked at each other. Shrugging, they just ignored her, proceeding to bully the young boy.

What was she going to do anyway? She was a little girl.

Fuming, she ran towards one of them and simply knocked him out before he could do anything.

The other one, having seen the attack coming, used his alice.

A gush of water hit her right on the chest, hard. Not as inexperienced in karate as she had thought, he grabbed her and threw her to the ground, leaving her breathless.

He laughed wickedly, but she quickly stood up and kicked him where it hurt the most. He fell, wincing, cursing under his breath.

Suddenly, she felt pain shooting up her spine. Her other opponent had woken up, attacking her with his own alice: inflicting pain by looking at his victims.

She fell to her knees, her body contorted in agony. Her old self would have started crying. But she wasn't her self anymore.

She closed her eyes, concentrating. Her chest was heaving up and down as she was trying to breathe. She felt something click inside of her as energy rushed through her whole body.

Accessing that power, using it instinctively, she directed it towards her attacker. Something pulled at her as she explored the structure of the other person's alice, deciphering and decoding.

Having finally found a weak point in the "armour", she attacked there with her full force.

She could literally feel her own strength drain out of her body as it unloaded the energy, but there was something else as well. Something was adding to her own power, something her body didn't want and was pushing away.

The boy was screaming by now, his voice getting weaker every moment that passed by.

Mikan wanted to stop whatever she was doing, but it seemed out of control. She was lost in her own self.

Finding no more, the flow of energy suddenly stopped, breaking the connection.

As she already was on her knees, she didn't fall any more, which she certainly would have.

Strangely enough, she didn't feel weak at all, but in a way refreshed. She turned her head and looked at the inert body of the teenager. His face was completely white, like a ghost's.

Shocked, Mikan looked away. Was she really the one who had done that?

"You… killed… him", came the accusing voice of the other young man.

"You killed him!."

**-------------------- **

**Hehehe... **

**Review to find out... Thanks to all of those who submitted name suggestions! It's really hard choosing just one...**

**Hope this chapter was clear to everyone, some of my friends didn't understand it at first...**


	11. Transfer

**Here you go, hope you enjoy!**

**-------------------- **

**Previously:**

_Shocked, Mikan looked away. Was she really the one who had done that?_

"_You… killed… him", came the accusing voice of the other young man. "You killed him!"_

_**----------** _

**Chapter Eleven** –**Transfer**

"No!" Mikan shouted. "NO!"

Not longer bearing the sight of the unmoving body lying on the ground, she ran away.

A teacher came her way, but she simply glared at him. He wouldn't stop her if she wanted to be alone.

Suddenly, he cringed, his arms gripping his chest tightly. He seemed in great pain.

Confused, the young girl ran faster. She wasn't a murderer, was she?

Without looking, her way led her deeper into the Northern Woods. She ran and ran until she came to the borders of a big sea she had never seen before. Its water was crystal clear.

Tears had started running down her cheeks. Why did everything seem to be wrong since…since she had met Persona.

Coincidence. Must be.

Her view blurred by her tears, she tripped over a root and fell. Whatever it was, she would take the pain. She lay there, unmoving, her mind blank.

What had she done? What had she become?

She slowly sat up and leaned against a tree. It was a Sakura tree.

Letting her eyes glide over the shiny surface of the sea, she took in her surroundings. The view was breathtakingly beautiful.

She smiled, then wondered. How could such beauty exist against all evil in the world? Things sure were strange at times, just like all those feelings and emotions she had inside of her.

Why couldn't things be like they were before?

'That's impossible. It was my own choice to start training my alice. I am weak.'

She gripped a low branch that was next to her ear and broke it off. The cracking sound of the wood being torn from its trunk was like a complaint, like something being hurt.

She paid no attention to it and started to practice what she had learned from the masked man. Without hesitation, she started kicking and hitting the hard surface of the tree.

Soon after, her knuckles began to bleed, her feet to hurt as they hit the wood again and again, in a seemingly never-ending pattern.

Exhausted, she still forced herself to continue until she couldn't take it anymore and fell to the ground. Even then, she tried to get up and to attack the now mutilated tree.

But she couldn't. She was simply too tired and had reached her limit.

She drifted off to sleep, but only for a few minutes.

Awoken by a strange noise, she noticed that it was late. She looked around but couldn't see anything. If she ran, she could still make it in time for her detention.

'Strange that I remember' she thought. Normally, it would have gotten out of her head after all the things that had happened.

The things that had happened. A murder. Committed by no one else than herself.

She ran all the way back to where she was supposed to meet with Jinno-sensei, wiping her bloody knuckles on a handkerchief. As to expect, they stung really badly.

Still, Mikan felt somehow better after having done some practice.

"Just in time, are we?" Jinno-sensei asked sarcastically.

Start over here – he pointed to the top floor of the girl's dorm – and finish over there – he showed the ground floor. And the dorm was huge.

"Clean the corridors and the toilets, empty the bins and wipe the windows. That will do. As I don't expect you to finish today, this task will continue until you are done. You will start every evening when the others have dinner and therefore have none. At lunch break, I will allow you to eat quickly, but then you will have to do some gardening service. This is the second part of your punishment and will last until I am satisfied with all of your results. Anything unclear?"

"No…"

"Good girl. Now, I would suggest you to start working, and don't get the idea to ask any of your friends for help, it wouldn't do them any good. Understood?"

'Protect your friends' she thought absent-mindedly.

"Yes."

He left her standing there with all the equipment she needed. She started working at the top floor, then suddenly stopped. What had happened to the teenager?

She looked out of the window to where she had left him, but the place was empty. Deciding not to worry about it, she continued with her task.

A moment later, she felt being shot by her friend's Baka-gun.

"You should have told me before that you were taking a day off. And then I find you here, cleaning stuff that isn't even yours. I guess that's your detention, isn't it? You really deserved it."

That was an unusually long speech for a girl like Hotaru. She must have been really worried.

"But Hotaru! I told you I had a sore throat, and it got worse."

"But you weren't in your room when I went to check."

"I'm sorry. By the way, where is Ruka?"

Her friend blushed a little, but then said

"He isn't allowed in the girl's dorm, idiot."

Mikan's mood seemed to have lightened up a little, and she was closer to her old self than she had been in the last hours.

Suddenly, the purple-eyed girl turned serious.

"Did you hear anything about this 15-year-old? He got attacked in the school, and his friend says that it was a brunette girl. There were no traces of physical harm on him, but he feels very weak, and there seems to be something wrong with his alice."

"He isn't dead?" Mikan blurted out.

Hotaru lifted an eyebrow.

"What do you know about it?"

"Oh, I'm not sure, but rumors are spreading fast, as you know." Her answer was quite evasive, but she couldn't come up with a satisfying answer.

"He's in the hospital wing right now, resting. Now, as I don't suppose that you will be allowed to have dinner, I will save something for you. At a charge of course, but you can consider yourself lucky to even get anything."

"Thank you, Hotaru!!"

"Yeah, yeah, just don't hug me. I will leave you now to your _important _task. See you later."

Mikan was once again left alone, this time thoughtful.

The teenager. _He wasn't dead._

_She hadn't killed him._

Relief washed through her like a soothing wave, and she concentrated on her task, moving swiftly. Soon, she had finished the two top floors and moved on to the floor underneath.

Since she wanted to be done with this work as soon as possible, she worked until it was almost midnight.

When she had finally finished yet another floor, she decided that it was enough and cleaned up all her utensils. One last time, she looked out of the window and saw that a light was burning in the hospital wing.

Curious, as was her true nature, she made her way to the lit room, knocked lightly and entered.

Stunned, she stood there, her mouth half-open. It was the teenager who she had attacked.

He looked back at her, then, with a sudden movement, turned back to the window he had been looking through before she had come in.

"What do you want?" His voice was apparently intended to sound aggressive, but all he managed was a weak whisper. He seemed broken inside.

"I…I don't know. I just saw this light and thought…"

"No. I mean, what do you want still standing here? If you came to laugh at me, just go on, just know that you won't be able to hurt me more than you already did. That was enough. And don't pity me. DON'T YOU DARE!"

His voice had risen while he had been talking.

"What do you mean? You're not dead. That's good, isn't it?"

"Oh, so you do want to mock me. Or do you really have no idea of what happened? I guess not, you can't be _that _stupid.

"Well apparently I _am_, because I have absolutely NO idea WHAT you are talking about!"

Her voice had gotten louder as well, angry at what he was telling her and his tone of voice.

He breathed in sharply.

"Fine then. My alice is _gone._"

"What do you mean _gone_?"

"I mean _exactly _what I say." She still looked at him, puzzled.

"I CAN'T USE IT ANYMORE!!" he roared, not taking it anymore.

Mikan looked at him, eyes wide.

"You…you mean…It's all my fault?"

"What do I _care _if it's your fault or not?! The doctors say that there might still be a slight chance for it to come back, but I already gave up. My friend _saw_ what happened when you looked at that teacher when you were running. _You have my alice now_."

**--------------------**

**That's it for now, please tell me what you think! **


	12. Chores And Tasks To Accomplish

**Hi everyone, hope you all had a nice summer. That is the reason why I haven't posted anything in all this time, I was away. Anyway, here is finally the next chapter, hopefully long enough and to your enjoyment. Thanks for all of you reviews so far!!**

**I had a hard time choosing a name for this character, but I took the name of one of my other favourite series, Death Note. You will find out the name as you read on. **

**-------------------- **

**Previously:**

"_You…you mean…It's all my fault?"_

"_What do I care if it's your fault or not?! The doctors say that there might still be a slight chance for it to come back, but I already gave up. My friend saw what happened when you looked at that teacher when you were running. _You have my alice now._"_

**----------** _  
_

**Chapter Twelve – Chores And Tasks To Accomplish**

"But…that's not possible!" Mikan said with emotion in her voice; yet, it was only a whisper.

The boy snorted.

"Yeah right, what should you care? I'm worthless to the academy, and at the current situation, they are going to give me a few months to recover, maybe even less."

"What will happen then?"

"Use your imagination, little girl. I guess I'm lucky if they set me free. You see, I did some confidential _work_ for a certain someone…Wait, why am I telling you that? All I can tell you is that I would never wish this kind of fate to anyone." He looked thoughtful and pained.

Mikan thought that he implied that he wished no one a fate of having no alice anymore, but it seemed that he meant something else as well.

"If it's my fault…" she started, but he simply interrupted her.

"I already told you, I don't care if it is. You should go now!"

"No! I'm not done with this yet, and I wouldn't be able to live with the fact that I took something irreplaceable from you. Now listen: I swear that I will do everything I can to get you back your powers. I will look for a way, and I know that if I look hard enough, I can find it."

That was what Ji-chan had always told her, and this time, it wasn't her alone who was involved. She had done harm; now, she had to do anything she could to help him.

"What is someone like _you _going to do to help me? Thanks, but _no _thanks."

"I'm serious about this. Please, let me help you." Her voice was soft, almost pleading, but not too much. Something colder inside of her didn't want to help, it was struggling to get its will. But Mikan wouldn't let it. In that moment, she was purely Mikan, the cheery and helpful girl everyone knew.

He turned around to tell her to leave, immediately. But then he looked into the girl's eyes, and the words seemed to be stuck in his throat.

"Please" her pleading voice said again. "At least, tell me your name."

"Ryuzaki." The moment he told her, he knew he had lost and that he would accept her help. She seemed like someone who everyone would want as a friend.

She smiled, as if she knew what he had just decided inside of him.

"I'm Mikan."

Slowly, he reached out with his hand, and without hesitation, she took it, holding it for a long moment.

She looked up and studied his face. The black curls were playing around his face, the small hint of red in them unmistakable in the faint light. His emerald green eyes seemed less tired than before, and more determined.

Even though he was quite handsome, that thought never crossed Mikan's mind. For her, he was a new friend that she would help, no matter what.

She should have known that friends were actually something difficult to have when you were in her position. Just like Natsume. But she would have to learn that, possibly even the hard way.

"You should go now, I need to rest" he said, smiling this time.

"Don't worry, I'll come back" she said, her face brightening up as she saw the young man's expression.

"Good night", he said, turning back to the window.

She left him, taking a last look at his figure standing against the moon shining in.

When she reached her room, she realised how tired she actually was and slumped on her bed. Cleaning sure was no fun.

For the whole week, Mikan established some kind of routine. She got up in the morning, usually late, had classes till midday and a quick lunch. After that, she did some gardening wherever Jinno-sensei would send her to and then quickly go to the afternoon classes.

As she had finished cleaning the dorms, very much to Jinno's dismay, she was free to eat dinner again. Still, she lost a bit of weight, but nobody really seemed to notice as she was trying to act cheerful as ever.

After dinner, she usually finished her homework and then came to the most important part of her day: her training. She was practicing everything learnt so far alone, next to the crystal lake she had found the other day. It had become something like a hide-out, where she could go when she wanted to be undisturbed.

That way, she didn't have to see a certain someone with his manga under the Sakura tree which was closer to the school buildings.

While there, she was thinking a lot about the new problem she had: give Ryuzaki back his alice.

Then, one evening, a note came again. _Same place, same time_.

They weren't fighting directly this time, but he showed her some new techniques and methods. She told him about the alice she had and that wasn't hers.

"This is quite strange, you see. And I don't even want it!"

Persona looked at her, seemingly cool, but on the inside, he was something close to excited. He had found his new weapon. Natsume still was a number one, but now, he had found something better. Something stronger.

"That is quite interesting." (Can't that guy ever say anything else:-))

"Show me."

"But…I can't! I don't know how to use it, even though I already tried. I think that it worked once, but that was because I was really shocked and angry."

'What an emotive girl' the masked man thought to himself.

Without warning, he stretched out his hand towards her forehead and let his alice flow to her. Her eyes went wide, then she closed them for a split second before opening them again. She was scared, he harmed her, she had only one choice: harm him back.

He felt agonizing pain streaming through his whole body, and it took his whole willpower not to collapse in front of this little girl.

"Enough!!" he roared, taking her by the shoulders.

Still, he was satisfied with the results. Her reaction had been provoked by the aura of his alice. Every living thing dreaded it, and instinctively shied away from his touch once he concentrated on it.

She stared at him for a second, then regained her cool stance. She couldn't show any weakness in front of him.

Persona looked down at her. She actually had gained her opponent's alice. She was better than just good. She was extraordinary.

The effects of the pill seemed to have lessened, and since he was planning something, he had to give her another one.

"Now listen here. I think you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Ready for your first mission, Mikan."

"Fir…first _mission_?? When?"

"Next week." He thought for a moment. "Evening of that Valentines Party. Believe me, it's the best moment to plan it. I hope you didn't arrange anything, did you?" he asked, the mocking tone evident in his voice.

"No" she said in a low voice. She didn't have anyone _special _to her, now did she?

"Good then" he said. "You should go now, I still need to _inform _someone of a decision I just made. Here, take this pill, it will help you sleep and concentrate so that you won't be too nervous for your first mission".

She took it without hesitation, but it wasn't the same careless innocence which made her do it, neither was it trust. She simply didn't question his actions, and what he told her to do, she would do it.

She left without making a sound, and he went, just the same, to find the black cat. He had to tell him the date of the mission he had set for him.

'We don't want him in the way, now do we?' Persona said to himself before chuckling silently.

This was going to be fun.


	13. Trouble?

'_We don't want him in the way, now do we?' Persona said to himself before chuckling silently._

_This was going to be fun. _

**---------- **

**Chapter Thirteen – Trouble? **

Mikan was so confused that she didn't know what to do or where to go.

Her first mission?

She then decided to run to her room straight away, as she already started to feel tired and a bit dizzy. ´Just the pill, she guessed.

While she reached the corridor that was going to her room, she realized that she had promised to visit Ryuzaki tonight.

It was a bit early for that but she knew that if she didn't go now, she would be fast asleep by the time she was going to see him.

Sighing, she turned around and walked towards his room which was still located in the hospital wing.

The doctors still hadn't given up hope yet, and tried everyday, through various different methods, to make his alice reappear.

That was a reason for which neither him or her had told them anything: as long as they were still interested, they were going to keep him.

Even though they barely knew each other for a week now, they felt as if they had known each other for their entire life.

It seemed that he had become the only person which who she was still able to talk freely.

Yes, she still was talking to her old friends, going to Central Town and having fun with them, but it was different.

It had become some sort of task for her to act as normal as possible so that they didn't notice any difference, and at the same time look out for any danger that might threaten them.

But with Ryuzaki, she was as close to her old self as possible. She had been ignoring Natsume as much as possible. He didn't seem to mind at all, and that was possibly the thing that hurt her the most.

She had been trying to be friends with him for years now and believed that he might at least feel friendship for her, but now that she didn't talk to hi anymore, he didn't even react to it.

Only sometimes, when he gave her an intent look when he thought that she wasn't looking, as if trying to solve a particularly difficult problem, she felt disconcerted. What was really going on?

´This is just plain stupid, she thought to herself. ´Hoping that he'd ever even get interested in my problems… Or me…

Thoughts like that always made her extremely sad, but she only allowed them to get to her when she was alone. Since she was a quick learner she had, in this week, learned well how to hide her feelings.

Not by blocking her thoughts though. That would have been suspicious in front of Koko. She was just covering them up by unimportant things that instantly happened around her, the way she had used to think.

Opening the door to his room, she almost fell. She definitely was tired, her eyes felt heavy.

Ryuzaki was sitting at the tiny desk by the window, drawing a sketch of the view he had on the garden.

Just like Mikan, he had a lot of talent for that, and so she only walked up silently behind him in order to not disturb him and looked over his shoulder.

Her steps were unsteady, but she tried to straighten herself up and gave him a big smile when he finally looked up.

"It's beautiful" she simply stated, but the emotion in her voice said the rest.

His green eyes lit up, and he lifted his hand to his black curls and scratched his head.

"I'd expected you to come later so I only started drawing it a bit ago. It was meant to be for you…"

Mikan suddenly felt uncomfortable and looked away. Did this mean anything?

´No way, she thought. ´We don't even know each other for that long.

When she looked back, he had concentrated on the paper in front of him again, the side of his face clearly shown by the last rays of the sun.

His face looked so sweet, his expression innocent.

"Why did you ever bully that kid?" she asked suddenly.

His face darkened as he shifted to look at her. "What exactly do you mean?"

"You don't look like it. And the way I know you now, you're not someone I'd expect it from."

He looked away, his jaw tight. It seemed that she had upset him more than she had meant to do.

"It's your friend, right?" she asked softly. "The one I saw you with the other day…"

Her voice drifted off as she remembered _that_ day. It wasn't even that long ago.

"My _friend_? Mikan, you're the only person who actually visits me since that happened!"

The young girl bit her lip. That was not what she had wanted to say.

"Oh wait, if you count all those doctors and nurses, I might have had more visitors than ever!" The sarcasm in his words was heavy, his words biting.

Suddenly, her head was spinning and she almost blacked out. She should have known that coming here was a bad idea and gone to sleep directly after having that pill.

She held one head to her forehead and with the other, gripped the side of the desk tightly, her fingers turning white.

"I didn't mean it like that! Mikan, are you okay?" His voice was definitely concerned now, and he jumped up from his seat to support her.

"Mikan? Oh no, you're all white and pale! I'm really sorry I should have seen that you didn't feel well."

"It's not… It's not your… fault…"

Her eyes were so heavy now that she just had to close them, and the room was spinning so fast that she felt sick. She was now swaying dangerously, then suddenly fell forward.

Ryuzaki reached out to catch her. She felt light as a feather.

"Mikan?"

He took her up into his arms, supporting both her head and feet, and looked at her face. It was white, a small frown just in between her eyebrows.

She had to be sick, and he hadn't even realized that she wasn't feeling well. He regretted his bitter words and decided to bring her back to her room.

As much as he'd love to keep her here, he didn't have a way to explain her presence and it was just simpler to have her in her room.

Since she mentioned where it was, he found the way easily. Only problem, it would look suspicious if he carried an unconscious girl to her room.

Better not be seen then.

He decided to keep close to the walls and walk in the shadows so that no one would see him carrying her. He also knew that she almost always forgot to lock her room, so he would have no problem getting in.

Almost in front of her door, he suddenly heard someone hissing behind him.

Trouble?

**--------------------**

** Sorry for the late update. Here, I just really want to thank you for all of you great reviews again:)  
**


	14. There Has To Be Something

**This chapter is actually just finishing off the night's events, that's why it's so short, but I definitely will have a longer next chapter, I can assure you that! **

**--------------------**_  
_

_Almost in front of her door, he suddenly heard someone hissing behind him. _

_Trouble?_

_**----------** _

**Chapter Fourteen – There Has To Be Something**

Ryuzaki whirled around, holding the sleeping girl tightly in his arms.

Nothing.

Yet, he was definitely sure that he had heard something. He strained his eyes to see through the shadows, but he still couldn't make out a thing.

Letting his eyes linger on the darkness in front of him for a bit longer, he shrugged and turned around. Mikan's room was just a few doors further now.

Hesitantly, he let the young girl leaned against the wall behind him to open the door. With her in his arms, it was impossible to turn the handle.

_Bang!_

"Ouch! Who is that?"

"The question is rather: Who are you? And what the hell did you do to Mikan?"

Hotaru Imai and a group of other girls standing behind her were in front of him. The girl with the purple eyes had her famous baka-gun in her hand, with which she was now aiming on his head.

"You have 5 seconds to tell us who you are and what you are doing here before I pull the trigger and get you straight to the hospital wing."

Ryuzaki smiled sarcastically.

"Which by the way is exactly where I just came from."

The young girl's eyes suddenly were alert.

"Is something wrong with Mikan?" she asked.

During the whole conversation she had had until now, only her eyes had betrayed the emotions she had inside of her. Her voice, just like her whole body language, was distant and seemingly uncaring.

But Ryuzaki saw that she genuinely cared.

"No, don't worry. She came to visit me."

"Then who exactly are you?"

"I'm Ryuzaki. We met last week and she has been visiting me regularly since then because no one else would."

Hotaru lowered her gun. "Yes, that's typically her. Now I understand why we were seeing her less than usually. She was with you."

Even though Hotaru might believe so, this wasn't the reason for Mikan's frequent absences. She had always been at her Sakura tree, training.

But that didn't seem to matter in the current situation, and everyone was happy with the explanation.

"Sorry for that shot by the way. I'm Hotaru."

"Nice to meet you, Hotaru. Anyway, I was about to bring Mikan to her room. She fainted in my room short after she came in to visit me, so I brought her here so that she could sleep."

The group of girls had slowly dissolved, leaving only Hotaru, Anna and Nonoko behind.

Anna stepped forward to open Mikan's door while Ryuzaki picked up her sleeping form from the floor.

Hotaru was standing there, supervising everything with her attentive eyes while Nonoko was simply standing there looking at the young boy, eyes wide.

'Strange', Mikan's best friend thought. 'Never seen her like that before.'

After lying Mikan down on her bed and covering her with her blankets, Ryuzaki stepped out of her room again and closed the door softly.

"Since when is Mikan like this?" Anna wondered aloud.

The young boy gave her a look.

"I thought that all of you should know best. Aren't you her friends?"

Nonoko looked down and then said

"Mikan has been acting strange lately. She's always very tired, but otherwise, I don't think that there is anything wrong with her. She was also sick the other day, but it seems like she's okay now…"

Ryuzaki thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I don't know her for long, but as far as I'm concerned, I don't think that there is much that could really harm her personality. She is always quite happy, and as long as we don't know anything, I'd say that she's safe here.

"I guess so" Anna and Nonoko said.

Hotaru merely shrugged.

Wishing each other good night, they left for their rooms.

Natsume had a hard time not breaking anything. If it wasn't for Ruka who was standing behind him in the shadow, he would surely have done something stupid.

"Are you alright, Natsume?"

"How can those people even call themselves her friends?"

Ruka looked at him. "What do you mean? All of them are concerned for her."

Natsume took in a deep breath. His friend was surely right. Still, he couldn't help thinking about what he had just heard. Were they really not concerned?

Somebody must have noticed that there was _something_.

He shrugged away this feeling. If Hotaru didn't show any signs of concern, there couldn't really be anything wrong. She cared for Mikan.

But Hotaru not showing anything wasn't anything new, now was it?

Something was definitely there, like a beast, lurking in the dark.

Ready to strike.

**--------------------**

**Now then, there's something I gotta say. I was actually planning on putting Natsume in this chapter instead of Hotaru and her friends, but that would have ended in a fight and I just wasn't happy with that. It would have messed up the events and changed the whole story, but he got his part in this chapter as well :)**

**Now there's a second character I'd to introduce, but again, I need a name, so please help me with that! I am very thankful for you other suggestions and will take them into account this time, maybe a suitable name is in there...**

**About the character: Remember the guy who bullied the little boy with Ryuzaki? I didn't pay much attention to him before, but he's getting important later on. He's blonde and has blue eyes, like Ruka, but he is cold, more like Persona. He's really tall and about the same age as Ryuzaki. **

Thanks a lot!!


	15. Lies Over Lies

**Here goes the next chapter, longer as I promised... Thanks for your suggestions, they really help me! Problem just is, that I'm having a really bad case of writer's block... I hope it passes soon enough though... **_**  
**_

_**---------------------** _

_It was definitely there, like a beast, lurking in the dark._

_Ready to strike._

_**----------** _

**Chapter Fifteen –**** Lies Over Lies**

Mikan woke up the next morning, early this time, fresh as ever. She stretched, then yawned.

Dim light was pouring in through the window: The sun was rising.

The young girl was sheer bursting of energy, and a look out of the window signalled her that the place under Sakura tree was empty.

Grabbing her sketchbook, she skipped outside and sat down on Natsume's favourite spot and started drawing. She had brought coloured pencils as well so that she was able to capture the sun's various reflections.

"What a funny thing a sunrise is" a voice suddenly said behind her. "Neither good nor bad. Just is"

Mikan didn't look up from her work until the other person had sat down next to her. She had recognised him at his voice.

Narumi-sensei.

He seemed a bit tired this morning, deep bruise-like shadows under his eyes. But he was smiling. It was a comforting smile this time, a warm smile.

He just sat there for a while, saying nothing and just looking at the breathtaking sunrise, altering between nature and drawing.

"It's beautiful" he simply stated, letting unknown if he meant her drawing or the actual one. She agreed anyway.

It really was.

Out of nowhere, he suddenly asked

"Has there been something bothering you lately, Mikan?" He was using a more serious tone of voice.

Her pencil stopped in mid-air, just above the paper it was supposed to be drawn on.

He looked her in the face. She had made a mistake, showing through her reaction that there actually _was_ something. Telling the truth was impossible. She had to come up with something.

His eyes were still on her face, searching for an answer.

When had she really started lying about the whole thing?

'Since the beginning' a voice inside her head was saying. 'He doesn't want anyone to know. Why not?"

Doubts were plaguing her. But he had explained, and she had taken that. It was for her and her friend's good.

Then why was she doubting, feeling as if something wasn't right?

She opened her mouth but still couldn't get herself to say anything. She looked away abruptly, biting her lips.

To her surprise, Narumi started laughing.

"Oh Mikan, this is so unlike you. But I knew from the first time I saw you standing next to him that you were made for… Oh I shouldn't say anything, I could just ruin it again."

What on earth was he talking about!?

He went on giggling, and then it dawned on her. _Natsume?_

Did he really think that it was because some boy that she…? But that was better than nothing or the truth. And since he couldn't be the only person who thought so, other people might suspect something.

'Something that doesn't exist' she thought, almost bitterly.

But she tried to smile, making it look almost embarrassed. Why had lying to others become so easy?

"Don't worry. Valentines Day is approaching!" he said, his face brightened by a knowing smile.

That date reminded her of something else. Her mission. She would have to train even harder than before to be prepared. This was her test, her guideline, to her, it would determine if she could make it.

"Now now, don't look so dark. It will turn out fine."

Why was everyone so blind? Mikan was starting to wish for someone who could see through all those lies, through the net she had been imprisoned deeper and deeper every single time she opened her mouth to say something. All lies.

She forced herself to answer. "Yes, I'm sure. Thank you, Narumi"

Her smile seemed convincing enough to him because he smiled back at her, then lifted up his hand to brush some strands of hair out of her eyes.

"I'll be going then…" He stood up and left, but as soon as he walked around a corner, he frowned.

Was it really only because of Natsume? Probably. After all, she was growing up…

He sighed, then dismissed the thought and went on with his work. A teacher really had a lot to do…

Mikan was simply sitting under the tree, staring into space. What had she become?

The drawing of the sunrise was lying on her lap, forgotten and unfinished. As she was sitting there, she saw a certain fire caster come out of the boy's dorm.

It was still early.

Natsume had planned to sit down under the Sakura tree to read one of his favourite mangas as he realised that the space was taken. Impossible to turn around as well: She had already seen him.

It had been a long time since he had last seen her sitting under that particular tree. It wasn't the first time he wondered why.

Not betraying any of those feelings, he slowly made his way to her. She looked so forlorn.

Without asking, he sat down on the other side of the trunk, like they used to do before… Before what? Before she changed?

But had she really? What if she simply had started realising that he was someone she didn't want to know, someone she couldn't ever get to know because of the way he acted.

One part of him was almost happy at that thought. Then she would be safe, he was sure.

But another part, a much bigger part of him, was sad. Unbelievably so. He couldn't imagine a life in which she wouldn't be part of his daily routine.

He couldn't even remember since when that was so, but it was simple and undeniable.

'What am I thinking!? Simple and undeniable, yeah right!'

To get away from those slightly disturbing thoughts, he slightly turned his head towards the back and took a look at the back of her head.

Her brown hair was tied in a simple ponytail, shimmering softly in the dim light. The sun had started to become stronger.

Apparently, she had resumed drawing whatever she was, her pencil moving swiftly over the paper, the scraping sound stopping from time to time as she picked up another colour.

As she lifted up her left arm to rub her eyes, her sleeve slightly slipped downwards, but it was enough to reveal a huge bruise. It seemed to already be a bit older **(A/N: Remember that Persona and her didn't train directly last night and just went through some techniques)** because it was only a hint, but the sheer size of it brought Natsume into a rage.

The faint blueish-green mark stood out on her white skin.

This couldn't have been an accident. But what was it then?

He thought for a while. What had she been doing lately? It was unlikely to have happened during her detention while she was cleaning the dorm, or during her gardening service.

His jaw clenched. Not that he didn't think that she didn't deserve a bit of those detentions for coming late and all that, but Jinno was far too harsh.

And then there was this Ryuzaki. Had he anything to do with it?

Improbable. He had seemed earnest the night before, and if Hotaru trusted him, there couldn't really be anything wrong with him. He suddenly froze, then thought back.

He was sure that he had heard his voice before. Yet, he couldn't recall when.

But that wasn't important at the moment.

He focussed back on the girl sitting behind him. Her sleeve was back up and was now covering the blemish on her skin, but the only memory of it brought back Natsume's anger, apparently for no reason.

He stared at her arm for a few seconds, do intently that it seemed as if he wanted to look straight through it and at the treacherous bruise.

Suddenly standing up, he dropped his manga but didn't make a move to pick it up. Instead, he walked colder to Mikan and sat down next to her, far enough so that they didn't touch, but close enough to clearly let her presence engulf him.

She had drawn the sunrise, with the school buildings and the park next to it. Just beautiful.

"What do you want?" she simply asked as he didn't say anything, not looking up.

It was none of this that actually disturbed him, more than she hadn't said his name.

_What do you want, Natsume?_

It was as if he wasn't a person to her anymore, someone without identity whose name she didn't care to speak out anymore.

Why was he upset because of such a small detail?

'Because she always used to say your name. And you liked it.' A voice in the back of his head said.

He clenched his fist and took in a sharp breath.

That was when Mikan finally looked up.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, and this time, her voice showed concern.

That was too much. There was something wrong with _her_, but she still was more concerned about others than herself.

Without any introduction, he said with a firm voice

"Where did you get the bruise on your arm from?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked uncertainly.

"I _saw_ it, there's no point in denying anything."

She looked away, obviously not having expected this question. Then, she opened her mouth to say something, but he knew that she was going to lie.

"_Don't _even think about it."

She looked confused, then understood and nodded slowly.

"There was this boy who was being bullied the other day."

Natsume had heard of the incident. His eyes widened slightly. Mikan knew what he was thinking.

"The rumours are only partly true. Let me explain. There was this boy who was bullied by a 15-year old. I tried to…stop him"

The fire caster shook his head in disbelief. She didn't really think that she would be able to stop somebody older than herself from doing things like that.

"That's when Ryuzaki came in. He helped me, but somehow lost his alice during this. The doctors don't know how and why, it seems mysterious to them, but the bully must have spread that it was me who did something…"

There it was again. A lie. To Natsume.

She felt sad about having to do that to him. Thus the sadness in her voice.

Which, in return, made her story more believable.

She was walking in circles.

"And that's when you got the bruise on your arm?" he assured himself one more time. He sounded angry, but there was soft tone in his voice which confused her.

"Yes" she said weakly.

He still didn't look convinced. She knew then that he was going to ask Ryuzaki about it.

"Anyway, I have to go now…"

"Classes don't start in nearly 45 minutes." He said, cocking an eyebrow.

"I know, I just left something in my room…" Lies again.

He waved dismissively and went to pick up his manga which was still on the ground. Sitting down, he flipped some pages and seemed to have forgotten her instantly.

'Of course he has' she thought to herself.

She made her way to her room, and all the way until she walked through the door, she didn't know that he had his eyes on her back.

**--------------------**

**If anything's unclear, you're welcome to ask!! **


	16. Approaching Worries

Oh. My. God. It's me again.

I realise it's been absolute AGES. And I'm immensely absolutely unbelievably sorry!!!

I hope you will understand though what happened and not be too mad at me. It's that all my files on my computer were lost, including this story. I therefore had to write up all the chapters that I had already written all over again. :(

I promise I'll make up for it...

Note to mountainelements: I am aware of the fact that I should have notified all of my readers of what is happening here. Again, I am terribly sorry that I didnt. I have the next few chapters sorted now and will be posting again in a couple of days I should hope...

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'_Of course he has' she thought to herself. _

_She made her way to her room, and all the way until she walked through the door, she didn't know that he had his eyes on her back, following her every step. _

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**Chapter Sixteen – Approaching worries**

'I just have to go tell Ryuzaki about that version, so that when Natsume comes to ask, he knows what to say' she thought to herself, leaving her room after taking a look out of her window.

There was Natsume, lying under the tree, his hands under his head, the manga on his face.

Mikan snorted, feeling suddenly annoyed. How could he just do that, acting as if nothing was happening?

Standing in front of the door, she didn't have the time to knock as it flew open. Ryuzaki was standing there, his face worried.

"Are you okay?" he immediately asked, suddenly placing his hand on her forehead. A strange feeling overcame Mikan, but not one of the sort she always had when Natsume was with her. It just was…different.

She looked him in the face, then smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. I was just a bit tired I suppose."

His face lit up. "I was really worried actually" he said.

Her smile grew wider, but then she remembered what she came for. She became serious again, then quickly told him about the story she had had to make up.

He nodded a few times, gravely, but agreed. It was the best way to keep secret the alice she had, which didn't only consist of nullifying, but also of stealing, and the fact that he had lost his.

They sat there for a while, thinking silently about the way they had gotten to know each other.

It was really strange how they could have been friends while she had actually stolen something very precious to him.

But that was also the only chance he could also get back his alice, as small as it might be.

Was that really the only reason he was like that? Would it have been different in other circumstances, if she wasn't the only hope for him, would he ever befriend her, a little girl?

She looked at him, then felt bad for thinking that way. He wasn't that selfish, and she should never have thought in that way.

Shrugging, she looked at the watch which was hanging over his bed, then shrieked. She was going to be late!

She got up in a swift movement and shouted a quick "bye!" before running off.

Ryuzaki could only smile, and shook his head.

Thankfully, Narumi hadn't arrived yet and she could sit down at her place without getting to hear any mean comments. Not that Narumi actually was like that to her, but well…

Strange, they had just been talking this morning, but it already seemed ages away to her.

The door flew open and he came in, happy as ever, a bright smile all across his face. He looked over at Mikan and winked at her before getting to the announcements.

"Alice Academy really is a special school, don't you think?" Everyone just rolled their eyes.

"Anyway, as you all know, the Valentines Party will take place this weekend, in 2 days only. Time goes by really quickly" he sighed dreamily.

"Now I hope that you all have got something for your friends, but the most important thing is for the person that you cherish the most."

He looked at everybody, a smile on his face but his eyes serious. "Love is something really important, and you should learn that soon"

Saying these words, he stared so intently at Natsume that he felt a slight discomfort.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

The fire caster leaned back on his chair. The party meant nothing to him; he had a mission to concentrate on.

It would be easy in every sense, first of all, it didn't sound very difficult to him, he had often broken into this sort of warehouse, and secondly, the party would be the perfect opportunity to excuse himself and sneak out.

And he would have a break from her, too. He had to think.

He growled, frustrated, because of the thoughts that kept on swirling in his head. He was confused and unsure about nothing and everything at the same time, not knowing why.

Ruka looked at him questioningly but said nothing. He knew that his friend wouldn't talk about it when he didn't want to. He would come to him in due time.

Even Mikan seemed to not pay attention. Her face was serious, lost in thought, and Ruka was thinking the same thing as Natsume.

What was she thinking about?

A lot of people seemed to be wondering because Nonoko leaned forward to the young girl and asked her.

A small smile lit up the brunette's face. "No, I'm ok" she answered. "I was just thinking about that party, you know. Usually, I have enough time to prepare, but with Jinno-sensei's work, I just can't get around to Central Town to get anything."

Though she said Jinno's work, she also had some other tasks in mind that she couldn't talk about to anyone. Nonoko didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, that's why you've been so preoccupied lately! Like when you fell asleep in Ryuzaki's room!"

Her head shot up. "You know about that?"

Nonoko blushed. "Well you know…We met him in the corridor and he had you in his arms…Hotaru wouldn't trust him at first but he seems nice to me." She smiled.

"Yes, he is a nice friend…"Mikan replied, her voice trailing off.

Being busy with her detention work was an explanation for why she had been so tired; in fact, the pill had only done its work.

This reminded her that she didn't actually know what she was to do at her first mission. Finding Persona would be a bit difficult as she didn't exactly know where he was, but she was sure that he would leave a message if he hadn't already.

Time seemed to just fly by and before she knew it, it was time for her gardening. The sun was burning hot, even at that time of the year.

As she bent down to plant a new kind of flower that Jinno ordered her to do and which was very complicated to make grow ("don't you dare mess this up!"), she heard steps behind her.

"Nice day, don't you think?"

Persona.

Mikan straightened up and swept the sweat from her forehead. For the first time really, she actually felt angry at him.

There he was, standing in the shade, arms folded, while she was doing this stupid work! 'All because of him' she suddenly remembered.

Had he told Jinno that she was with him, this would never have happened.

She looked him in the eye, her expression fierce, waiting for him to talk first.

Under her stare, the masked man felt slightly uncomfortable. He had known that this kind of behavior was forced to happen, but still, it was very soon.

Even Natsume had taken a tiny bit longer to hate him.

"Well then, I understand that this day might be not as good as I might have said, but you will agree that it is still pleasant and enjoyable."

She was silent, and he continued.

"Anyhow, I have here the objectives of your mission. Don't worry, it will not be hard. There will be one of my _friends_ waiting for you at the clearing, taking you out. Please find an excuse good enough to keep anyone from looking for you."

She nodded as he stopped, but he hadn't come to the actual plan yet.

"He will bring you to a car that will lead you to the _undergrounds_, if you know what I mean. There has been a customer of mine, unhappy with a certain deal. But it's unwise to turn against the Alice Academy, don't you think?"

"What sort of deal was it?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Medicin for these poor children in the hospital, new equipment. The problem is, that he is the only person with this quality, and he knows it, but the price he gave us was far too high"

"So what exactly should I do?" she asked, weary.

"For this is your first mission, not much. You will watch your companion and learn. Know that my client has bodyguards with alices. Help by blocking them, they don't always fight fair. If they try anything on you, don't be fooled; they're dangerous, but you will know what to do."

Something unspoken was between them, a feeling. She wasn't sure what he meant when he said that she knew what to do, but she had a faint idea.

Death.

She would never do anything like it, she was sure. He couldn't possibly have meant that, she was convinced. Wasn't he the one trying to help her?

It seemed easy enough, and so she nodded once again. "What time?"

"You will get a message when everything is ready." He vanished, leaving her mystified, alone with her work.

Why couldn't he just do everything directly? Always passing around messages. She shrugged.

Must be a habit or something like that.

A few hours later, after she had returned from her little space by the crystal lake, Nonoko and Anna came to her, both smiling brightly.

"You know Mikan, since you don't have any time doing your presents yourself, we figured that we could help you and do it for you. I'm sure that the others won't mind that it's not from you and that they will understand that you don't have much time, but it's the thought that counts." They smiled again.

"Oh thank you so much" the brunette said, her voice earnest. She went over to them and hugged them tightly. She hadn't realized how much she had missed moments like that, with her friends.

"But guess what, here's the best part!" Nonoko exclaimed, Anna nodding gravely as if the matter about to be discussed could decide her whole future.

"As we know that you never were any good in fashion," she looked at her apologetically, "we got you a dress, so that you know what to wear!"

Simultaneously to her words, she gave the brunette a box that she had been holding behind her back.

Anna lifted the lid and unfolded the thin paper which was always found in this sort of package.

The dress was perfect.

It was held in a dark red, with fitting gloves up to the elbows, and loads of lace and bits of fabric which made it look sophisticated and refined.

Mikan knew that it would go down to her ankles.

The colour was appropriate to the event, but not too bright to seem too flashy.

Mikan's smile was almost as bright as theirs, even though, in the back of her mind, she knew that she was not to wear it at the party.

She pushed those thoughts away. In this moment, there was no time for them, and her happiness was deep and true.

"But…I can't take this from you…"

"Nonsense." They smiled. "It's our present for you. Just don't expect anything at the party." They winked.

Mikan broke into a laugh and hugged them once again, then released them.

Obviously pleased, the two of them then reached into their bags and got out various presents they had bought on their short trip to the stores.

They hadn't been able to ask her to accompany them because firstly, she had been doing her work, and then they had wanted to give her some rest from it.

They had assumed that she was in her room, whereas she actually had been training, anxious for her upcoming task.

They left, and Mikan sighed. One thing less to worry about.


	17. Too Late

**As promised, here's the next chapter. **

-------------------- _  
_

_They had assumed that she was in her room, whereas she actually had been training, anxious for her upcoming task._

_They left, and Mikan sighed. One thing less to worry about._

_---------- _

**Chapter Seventeen– Too Late**

Mikan was pacing back and forth in her room, feeling restless. Today was the big day.

For the others, there was the Valentines Party to look forward to, but she couldn't share their joy concerning that. She had no idea when she was supposed to be ready, no message had come yesterday.

She stopped. She definitely needed some fresh air to clear her thoughts. She quickly grabbed her sketchbook and stepped out of her room.

Sketching was something she had rarely time to do because of Jinno, but they had the day off because of the party.

She had told her friends that she wanted to prepare for it and wrap up all the presents, write the greeting cards, and they had left her, waving happily.

They were probably busy with their own preparations.

She looked up at the buildings around her, not satisfied because she just couldn't find the perfect object to draw.

Her eyes stopped as they took in the sight of the hospital wing. With a pang of guilt, Mikan realized that she hadn't actually done a lot to help Ryuzaki out of the situation he was in.

The situation she had gotten him into.

He never complained or pushed her to talk about a solution or a way, but they both knew that this subject was present at all times, as if floating above their heads.

She had been thinking about it, that was a fact, but since she hadn't come up with anything, it meant that she wasn't doing enough.

While thinking about all of that, she absent-mindedly had started sketching his face. His green eyes, his unruly, black hair, with that hint of red in them, his fine nose.

She sighed, than shut her sketchbook. She wasn't going to get anywhere if she just stayed outside. At least, she had to try.

Walking to his room, she knocked softly but heard nothing.

She opened the door slightly, but the room was empty. Bare of all personality. All of Ryuzaki's possessions had disappeared, and he wasn't in it either.

The brunette panicked. Had something happened, something she had been unaware of? She couldn't believe it.

She looked around the room, not _wanting_ to believe what this could mean.

She had been standing in the door for a while before she heard someone clear his throat behind her. She whirled around, and relief immediately washed over her.

Ryuzaki was there, smiling sheepishly.

"My stuff got moved to a room in the boy's dorm again…" he muttered. "Since I'm not actually ill, and this whole loss-of alice-thing isn't contagious," he chuckled, "the doctors figured I could get a room now."

Mikan was just standing there, and a worried look appeared on his face. As he was about to ask if she was okay, tears started screaming down her face.

He came to her to hold her in his arms, and she simply smacked him on the shoulder.

"How could you? I thought that something might have happened…I was so worried…I…You…" Her voice cracked.

"Shh… There, there, I'm here…No reason for you to be worried at all. I wouldn't just leave you here, believe me."

Mikan closed her eyes and leaned against him. Neither of them had actually expected that outburst.

It seemed that she was more nervous about what she was going to do in the evening than she had wanted to admit to herself.

The young girl straightened up and breathed in before wiping her eyes. Ryuzaki lightly brushed away a strand of hair that was hanging in her face.

"Everything okay?"

She nodded. "Did Natsume come and talk to you?"

"No. But why do you think he would?" Mikan hadn't told him about the incident under the tree, but she shrugged.

"Oh nothing. Remember when those guys hit me, and I got a bruise on my arm? Well, he saw it and wanted to know where it was from, but as I told him, I knew he'd come and ask you about it."

As she mentioned that day, Ryuzaki flinched and his jaw clenched.

"I'm so sorry about that" he whispered. He looked away.

She hugged him. "I know you now. I know that it wasn't you who did it."

He laughed bitterly. "You don't know me. All the things I've done. I mean come on, my alice is just the perfect weapon." He was staring ahead, not wanting to meet her gaze that he knew was upon him, his look distant.

Mikan knew that whatever she'd say wouldn't make a difference, and so changed the subject.

"That wasn't exactly why I came here" she said. "Well, partially…But not mainly. I mean…"

He looked at her questioningly. It wasn't her way to actually stutter around. She must really feel that whatever she wanted to say was important.

"Your alice…" she finally managed to say, looking at a point next to his head.

He immediately understood. They hadn't actually gotten one step closer to solving that problem.

"Don't worry about that. I mean, I can't _actually _blame you for whatever happened."

She looked up, appalled. He was _not_ giving up, was he? She had given him a promise. Did he really only have so much faith in the two of them that he judged it unnecessary to even _try_?

"No" Mikan said urgently. "We have to figure out this problem."

"Listen, Mikan. I know that you mean it, but what if there is no solution to this problem? What if…"

"_No_" she replied firmly.

Ryuzaki looked at her, and she returned his gaze. He sighed, then smiled lightly.

"Alright. We can give it a try." His grin got bigger as he saw her eyes lighting up.

He sat down on the bed, and she stood in front of him, her back facing the door. Unsure now what to do, she bit her lower lip. He sat patiently, his eyes closed, waiting for whatever she was going to do.

She tried to remember what had happened on that afternoon, how she had felt and how everything had occurred, but her memories were blurred.

Deeply breathing in, she slowly breathed out and watched the gush of air softly play with Ryuzaki's hair.

Then, she placed her hands on his shoulders, closed her own eyes and concentrated on her own alice stream.

She was trying to differentiate and to detect the alice that didn't belong to her, and short after felt those two different energies flowing through her body.

She bent down in effort and forced what she knew to be his alice, into her hands. They grew burning hot, and the young man tensed as he felt her hands tighten around his shoulders.

She tried to oblige it into his body, but there was some sort of barrier that closed the way. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she tried to explain this to herself.

This wasn't as easy as it seemed. She knew that she was close to an answer, there was only one element missing to make this complete.

A snort behind her made her lose all concentration, and the power she had felt in her hands a few moments before vanished back into her body, following the natural stream it usually had.

Her eyes flew open and she turned around to see who it was.

Natsume.

What the hell was he doing here?

Mikan remembered that he hadn't spoken to Ryuzaki yet and cursed herself. She had been so close to her goal.

The young man sitting on the bed had opened his eyes as well and was now looking past her shoulder to face Natsume.

"The famous black cat" he said, and the boy standing in the door glared at him. The young brunette looked at both of them, puzzled.

She had already heard of that name and knew that it was Natsume's, but the way Ryuzaki said it, almost provokingly, sent a shiver down her spine.

"I see that this is the wrong moment; I definitely didn't want to _interfere_."

With that, he turned around and left.

At first confused, realization suddenly hit her as if somebody had slapped her in the face.

From the door, with Mikan bending down, it must have looked _as if they were kissing_.

With one glance on Ryuzaki, who nodded lightly, she ran out of the room to catch up with the fire caster. She had to explain this.

"Natsume!"

As he heard his name, Natsume had to stop and gripped the knob of a door for support before straightening up and turning.

Maybe he was wrong about worrying about Mikan, She seemed to be just fine. He should maybe worry about something else.

About the pain he had felt when he had seen them like that, for example.

'Maybe I'm too late' he suddenly thought, not entirely grasping what he actually meant by that.


	18. New Acquaintance

_About the pain he had felt when he had seen them like that, for example. _

'_Maybe I'm too late' he suddenly thought, not entirely grasping what he actually meant by that. _

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**Chapter Eighteen– New Acquaintance **

"Natsume, listen…"

Mikan didn't get any further than that before he interrupted her.

"Listen? I'm so sick of just listening. To you, to _everyone!_ And that is definitely _not_ the way to start an explanation." His voice was low, restrained anger clearly showing in it. "Now you listen. I don't care what you did in there, and it's none of my business, so you don't need to tell me _that_. As for that, I am very sorry for just bulging in. I won't disturb you anymore."

He said all of that with a tone of finality, as if there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"Please, don't think that!" she urged him. "It's not how you think it is!"

"I know." She looked at him in disbelief, hoping that he really understood, but he continued. "Girls all are the same, not that I know much of them, but I don't care anyway. They try to find some excuse to everything, when in fact it is all quite simple. Don't think me stupid Mikan."

He clenched his teeth and turned around. He had seen how the look on her face had turned from desperation to hurt, then anger. This was the best way.

He walked away, aware of her stare in his back, feeling it as if it was some physical contact. He couldn't stand all of this anymore.

Thank God that he wouldn't have to participate at that stupid Valentines Party, but instead concentrate on his mission. Nobody would look for him.

'You don't mean _nobody_, you're thinking of _her_' a sarcastic voice said in the back of his head. He wished that it would just go away.

Natsume had reached his room and closed the door behind him. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cool wood.

His head snapped up and he walked across the room, reached for his bedside lamp, smashing it against the wall on the opposite wall. It shattered to pieces.

Mikan still stood, frozen in place, where he had left her. She couldn't believe him.

_Girls are all the same_.

So that was it. She was just another girl, classified into a group of other stupid kids. Sumire might even be part of that group.

But it was mostly anger that was rushing through her. How could he just believe that? He hadn't even let her explain anything to him.

'Fine then. If that's what he thinks of me, I don't see the point in still having anything to do with him.'

She turned, slowly, to go back to Ryuzaki, but he had already come out of the room. Concern was in his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" she whispered. "I'm okay." She turned her head and stared at the bare wall. She was determined not to cry, but somehow couldn't help it.

Tears just welled up in her eyes, and slowly spilled over her cheeks. He came closer and took her in his arms, hesitantly. She simply stood there, her expression blank.

She buried her face in his shoulder, and after a few moments, his sleeve was drenched. He simply stroked her hair, in a steady rhythm. How soft it was.

"It's okay" he murmured. "It's all gonna be okay."

She nodded, then pulled away, looking him in the face, then at his soaked shirt. A sheepish smile appeared on her face, but it was only a half-smile.

"Sorry for that" she muttered apologetically.

He smiled at her. "You know I don't mind. Give him some time. He will listen to you, I know it. Go now, you should rest. Thank you for your help." It was him who looked away, as if he had known that it wouldn't work.

"It did work" she answered the unspoken question in his eyes, and he sighed. "I was there. I had you alice in my hands."

Ryuzaki looked down at her. "Was that…?"

"Yeah. The heat you felt. I was almost there" she repeated. "There was just something…A barrier…" Her eyebrows pulled together in concentration.

"We have time" he said calmly, but both of them knew it was a lie. The doctors had already given hints that they didn't have much hope for rehabilitation now.

A lot of time had passed.

The fact that he had gotten back his room didn't make the slightest difference.

"I promised. And I know what I felt. There was just something that was holding me back so that I couldn't finish now. I will figure it out."

"We will" he grinned, then passed his hand through his hair. "Get some rest now. Thanks for your visit. Next time you come, go directly to my room. It's not far from here, it's the one with the green and black door. The only one in this school" he added jokingly, pretending to sound proud.

"I will" she smiled, than left him. Her steps were heavy, as if she was carrying a weight, but they almost didn't make any sound.

She reached her room and softly closed the door, glancing at her bedside table. The lamp placed on top of it looked attractive.

Mikan was sure that it would feel good to just fling it against the bare wall, watching it break, the shards flying into every direction.

Her eyes were suddenly attracted on a piece of paper which was lying on her pillow. Persona had sent a note again, she was sure.

And there they were, her instructions. Mikan read them through, her gaze going swiftly over the printed letters and words.

It was simple, and clear.

As he had said, she would get a sign from another, masked student, who would tell her in advance when she had to be at the clearing.

That would give her time to change into appropriate clothes. Black.

She would have to attend the Party though, at least the beginning of it, because she was only needed later.

Perhaps it hadn't been such a bad idea from Anna and Nonoko to give her a dress as a present.

Smiling darkly, Mikan tore the note to pieces and threw them away.

The rest of the day passed quickly enough. The young brunette seemed to barely notice, as she had been sitting outside, thinking about nothing in particular.

Then, two hours before the party, Anna had taken her with her into her room to get ready. Nonoko and Hotaru were there as well.

Somebody had been in Mikan's room to get her dress for her, but that didn't matter. Her friends were always welcome.

It turned out that they had all completely different dresses with different colours, but all of them looked classy and chic.

The girl's did each other's hair, even Hotaru's, who had longer hair now.

Mikan looked at her friend for a moment. It was true that she had also changed, and she wondered if that was because of Ruka.

She felt slightly guilty for not having paid more attention to Hotaru's relationship, but as expected, she didn't show much of it anyway. But they both seemed happy, and that was all that counted for her.

Finally, they were all ready, with make-up, hair and all. They stood before the mirror and looked at themselves and each other, but Mikan only felt relief that none of her bruises were visible anymore.

They admired each other, and all giggled because they couldn't wait for the reaction of their male friends. It was true, they were all beautiful.

Hotaru was wearing a purple dress, bringing out the colour of her eyes, Nonoko had a dark blue dress, Anna's was pink, both according to their hair colour.

Mikan wondered why they had picked red for her, but she really couldn't complain. Her brown hair had a coppery shimmer thanks to what she was wearing.

She felt quite relaxed and enjoyed being with her friends, dressed up for a party, and for a moment was able to forget her worries about the mission, and about Natsume.

A knock on the door made them all turn around, and with a last glance at the mirror, they went to open it. Ruka was there, behind him Koko and Yuu, and completely at the back, leaning against the wall, stood Natsume.

They were all nicely dressed too, and the look that Hotaru and Ruka gave each other didn't escape Mikan's attention. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

Natsume was watching her intently. She was really beautiful in her red dress, her hair fashionably piled up on her head, glinting in the faint light, but the sad smile was something he didn't want to see on her face.

What was she thinking about at this very moment? It wasn't the first time he wished to know that, without explaining to himself why that was. He was sure that he wouldn't like the answer.

He wasn't going to put up with his contained manners for the whole evening anyway, for his mission was short ahead. He didn't want to see her sad, even though he thought to know that he was the reason for it.

He felt like a coward at that moment. No matter how brave one had to be to go on those missions, he was still not strong enough to see her sad. She should have fun tonight.

As Mikan looked up at him, he was unable to read the emotions on her face. She smiled lightly, only a hint of the smiles she had always used to give him, but he didn't have the right to expect any more after what had happened in the morning.

The group walked downstairs, towards the big room in which the party was going to be held, and somehow, Mikan and Natsume ended up at the back of the group, walking quietly beside each other.

He wanted her to say something, like she had always done, but she remained silent. He didn't know what to say either, but he had never been someone who talked a lot.

Suddenly, Mikan bit her lip and stared right ahead. Natsume wondered what she had seen to make her mood change so abruptly.

Unlike what Natsume had thought, Mikan hadn't actually seen something, just thought about the mission that lay ahead. And she was feeling the tension between the fire caster and herself, but couldn't do much about it at the moment.

He had clearly told her what he thought of her, and she would respect his wishes. There probably wasn't any tension, and if there was, it might just come from her.

The young girl didn't know. She was so sick of it.

As they entered the huge ball room, Mikan couldn't help but be amazed. She looked around, eyes wide, at the decorations, at the flowers, at the colours. Everything was perfect.

Red, pink, white, hearts, roses, other things created with all sorts of alices. In the middle of the room a big heart made of ice, but as she came closer she could feel the warmth emanating from it.

She smiled and turned around herself, touching a flower there, admiring the hearts floating in the air. Soft music was playing in the background, subtle and romantic.

Mikan spotted Narumi-sensei, sighing dreamily, dressed in a red and purple outfit. He was slowly swaying with the music and admiring the decorations, as everyone else was.

Hotaru and Ruka got themselves some drinks and sat down in a corner, the girl's head resting on his shoulder. She was smiling lightly.

The young brunette looked around just to see that Natsume was not far behind her, watching. She frowned slightly, wondering what he was thinking, and went on looking for Nonoko and Anna.

They were standing in a circle with a few other girls, whispering and giggling with each other. It was quite obvious what they were talking about.

Those two were really quite the romantic type, looking beautiful in their dresses, but the other girls weren't bad either, Sumire looking good as well in her emerald green gown.

It seemed that almost every student had arrived by now, because Narumi-sensei went up onto the stage to hold a speech.

"My dear students, dear staff. I am glad to announce that this year's Valentines Party is now officially opened. Enjoy yourselves, have fun, forget your worries, and most of all, be brave enough to ask the person special to you!" he winked, while every one else just rolled their eyes.

"So then, have a great evening!" he left the stage again, and Mikan wondered what use it would have during the night. The dance floor was just before it.

She didn't have to wait long for the answer though, because Koko appeared next to her.

"This stage is going to be used for special band performances all over the evening. In the beginning, more classical, but as the evening gets on, they will also have modern rock and pop bands on it." He smiled brightly, proud of that explanation.

"Thanks Koko" Mikan smiled as well. Something else seemed to be bothering him too, though, because he waited next to her.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Well…Do you think that I should go over and ask…Anna…for…a dance?" he wondered.

"Shouldn't you know that better than me?" Mikan asked, looking at him questioningly.

"I should, but you see, she hasn't been thinking about anything concerning this evening or me…or any boy, for that matter. Do you think she knows?"

"I think that you should go and find out for yourself" Mikan suggested. "Go on, I'm sure she won't bite you."

He laughed and thanked her, then slowly went over to the group of girls. This sure wasn't going to be easy on him. The brunette could also see Yuu hanging around that group, and knew well who he had in mind.

She sighed. This was going to be a long evening if she didn't find anyone to talk to. Mikan thought about it. That wasn't true either. She would only have to wait for the masked person who was supposed to tell her when to go.

But that could be any time, and she wasn't about to just stand around, doing nothing. She sighed again and walked over to the group of girls. Koko had found the courage and asked Anna for a dance, Yuu was at it.

Sumire noticed her, looking up and down her dress as if she was evaluating it.

"Not too bad, I must say. Looks like you finally got some sense of fashion knocked into you."

"You look nice too" Mikan said, ignoring the other girl's insult behind those words.

"No, really" Sumire almost smiled. It seemed that the mood had gotten to her too, because for a moment, she looked quite friendly.

Then Mikan realised why that was. Natsume wasn't with her, so she was satisfied. She could see the green-haired girl peeking over her shoulder, searching for the fire caster.

The only time they had really gotten along might have been the time in which they had both tried to save Natsume, but now that that was over, Sumire had gotten back to her old self, trying to get him to herself.

'Not like I care' Mikan thought to herself. She turned around, but Natsume wasn't anywhere to be seen, so she just walked over to the other end of the room, deciding that she didn't need that girl's company.

She then looked around, but couldn't find Ryuzaki anywhere either, and decided to get a drink. She walked over to the refreshment table, but was startled by the young man who was standing there.

Ryuzaki's friend, or more his accomplice, the one who had accused her of killing his companion that day.

He had blonde hair and blue eyes, but unlike Ruka's, which were full of warmth, they were hard as stone, a cold fire burning in them.

He smirked as he noticed her. "I see now. Persona's new girl."

Mikan froze. What did he know?


	19. Last Instructions

**I realise that the story has been moving pretty slowly, so consider those few chaoters as something like "fillers". This will be the last one though, the next chapter is mainly going to focus on... Mikan's first mission. Don't mind me for stopping this chapter so abruptly, it just had to be done :P **

_** --------------------** _

_He smirked as he noticed her. "I see now. Persona's new girl."_

_Mikan froze. What did he know?_

_**----------** _

**Chapter Nineteen - Last Instructions**

"Don't worry about it, it's too late now, and I don't know why we need those masks here anyway."

Mikan frowned, confused for she didn't know what he meant, but decided to let him talk. He stuck out his hand for her to shake, but she didn't touch it.

"Fine then, my name is Hiroshi."

She finally shook it, simply saying her own name. They didn't need small talk, and so he came straight to the point.

"Persona told me that I was supposed to wear a mask and then tell you when to go there, but now that you've seen me, I suppose it also works that way. Don't tell him about it though." He winked, but never smiled once.

Neither did she. He offered her a drink, which she took but didn't touch otherwise.

"Don't worry, it's not poisoned, if you fear that" he said, chuckling humorlessly. Everything about him was cold, the complete opposite of Ryuzaki.

She wondered why they had been together, unable to make the connection just yet. She simply stared up at that cold young man, wondering how he had become that way. He seemed different from the last time she had seen him, where he had seemed scared and shocked at what she had done to his friend.

For the first time, she wondered why nobody had asked what had happened to Ryuzaki. Apart from a few rumours, nothing had been officially announced to the students, no reason had been given for his absence. Just a fever, nothing serious, that was what a few of his friends had been told. But it was true, no one apart from her had ever come to visit.

She looked out for Natsume, but he was nowhere to be seen, and she shrugged. He most probably left the party for one reason or another, but that was none of her business.

"Now then, since I don't have the trouble of finding you anymore, I will get straight to it and give you your instruction. If you wouldn't mind following me to somewhere…more private, you know."

Mikan nodded in agreement and they both left the place, unseen by any of her friends. She wished that she hadn't fallen out with Natsume and that he would be there for her now, but it was too late for that now anyway.

Once outside, they went into one of the empty classrooms which weren't used at the moment.

"Now then, I don't know much about Persona's business since my alice isn't good enough for that", he snorted before continuing, "and I'm only here to deliver messages, but I know enough to make sure everything goes alright. Your mission is, as he might already have told you, to come with one of his men and watch the transactions with a client. If anything unexpected should happen, use your alice." He smirked.

Mikan wasn't so sure if that was it. There had to be some sort of catch to it, a trap, or just a test.

She decided to be careful about it, but asked anyway.

"Is there anything else I have to do?" she asked, looking intently at his face. She couldn't detect any treacherous emotions on it, but you could never know.

"I don't know" he just said, but she felt that that wasn't true. "You will find everything you need with your companion; I am not to help you any further than this."

"What am I to wear?"

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. A bag has been brought up to you room with all of the necessities for this mission. Be ready at the meadow, in half an hour. Have a good night" he nodded his head at her and left.

Mikan simply sat there, wondering about all of the things that had happened to her. Since she had only half an hour left on this party, she would use the time with her friends and think of a way to get away without them getting suspicious.

She couldn't say that she was sick, since they would then come into her room to check on her, where she obviously wouldn't be.

The brunette got up and entered the ballroom again, but felt that her cheerful mood had been taken from her by those news. She tried to smile and looked around, wondering if Ryuzaki was there.

Apparently, he wasn't, but that made her wonder where he was and what he was doing. But he might as well be somewhere else at the moment, at the other side of the room. She didn't know.

Looking around once more, her eyes scanned the crowd for Natsume. He wasn't there either, but Mikan knew that she shouldn't be surprised. He had always found his way out of such social events, preferring to be alone.

And this time, the young girl didn't mind. She had always cared, but for this evening, he was her prefect excuse; she'd just tell her friends she would go out to find him. Since she didn't think that any of them knew where he was, she had the whole night.

A smirk appeared on her face, and had anyone seen it, that person would have been shocked by seeing it, because it was cold and rather menacing. It wasn't like _her_.

Clearing her expression, she casually walked over to her friends, and smiled.

"You know…I think I'm sort of worried about Natsume…Maybe I should go find him." They all looked at her, giggling and smiling, and wished her good luck with it.

Everyone knew that there was something going on between them, and this evening might just have been the perfect time for everything to come out. They should have known better though, but no one can know everything, now can they?

Leaving the festive room once more, she decided to go directly upstairs to look at her equipment and be at the meadow in time. It was her first mission after all.

She didn't feel any excitement about it; not yet, at least. It was more like some work having to be done. She had to do well to succeed in being able to help her friends.

She wasn't sure why, but she had started believing that Persona was one of the things she had to protect them from. He was dangerous to some extent, and remembering the power he had shown her at their first meeting, she realized that he was more than just a teacher.

He was someone of power. But maybe that was what made him such a good teacher to learn from, if not a good person. She didn't know him well, but their relationship towards each other was of no importance in this matter.

Slowly walking upstairs, Mikan ignored the glances and looks she got from some of the boys; it was true that she had changed over time, but at the moment, she seemed dark and mysterious.

The bag was there, as promised. It was black, like everything inside. The clothing was simple, long sleeved turtleneck shirt and either trousers or shorts, which had a faint square pattern on them that vaguely reminded her of the uniforms worn in school, and black leather gloves. There was also a pair of shoes, black of course, with soles that made only little sound.

'How practical' Mikan thought sarcastically. She didn't seem to be herself that evening, but didn't mind. Her attitude was more like a person's who didn't particularly care about what was going to happen, which suited her fine.

Then, there was a small purse with some shurikens, and she took one and threw it at the wall. It stayed there, and she threw another one, which sunk into the wall just a few millimeters from the first missile.

There was also a small dagger, but she didn't really know why. Probably to impress enemies, but she knew how to use it in the worst case.

The most interesting item in the bag was a mask, which she delicately took into her hands to look at it.

It was beautiful.


	20. Facing Death

_The most interesting item in the bag was a mask, which she delicately took into her hands to look at it. _

_It was beautiful._

_**- - - - - - - - - -**  
_

**Chapter Twenty – Facing Death**

Unlike what Mikan would have expected, it was not an animal. She was half-disappointed that Persona hadn't given her such a mask, but that didn't diminish the awe she felt by looking at it. 

It covered her eyes and nose, and might as well have been a mask that someone would wear at a party, or a ball. Yet, there were fine lines and patterns carved into the strong material, for which Mikan couldn't help but try to think of a use. She couldn't come up with any, but it was pretty nonetheless. 

Cautiously holding it up to her face, she walked to the mirror and put it on. It felt strangely warm, and though she had the feeling that it didn't fit at first, it was like a second skin after a few seconds. She smiled.

The mask concealed her identity perfectly; she could have been anyone. The young girl quickly changed and added something from her own wardrobe to it. She had never worn it before, but had liked it the moment she had seen it in the far end of a small clothes shop. 

It was a wide, black cap, which made her look boyish in her clothes, but could also have been feminine had she wanted it to look so. She fastened her hair with clips and stuffed it under the cap, making sure that everything sat well, including the weapons which she fixed upon a belt around her waist. 

She was ready to go. 

Deciding to start there and then, she opened one of the windows in her room and swiftly climbed down the stone wall, taking hold of drains, window sills or deep cracks in the rough surface. 

She didn't know why, but she felt excited in a strange way, knowing that she'd experience something different this evening, and bizarrely, she looked forward to it, she was eager to prove herself and see what she could achieve.

Half running, she made her way to the clearing, where, sure enough, a masked man was waiting there. No emotion passed through him as he saw Mikan approaching. He simply turned around, motioning her to follow him. 

Without an exchange of words, they got into a black car, and quietly, it drove out. Mikan, feeling slightly uncomfortable but trying to hide that fact, coolly looked the tall man up. He had a slight mask, just like her, except that there were no incisions in it that could have made it special in any way. 

He was wearing all black too, but to keep up the appearance of an actual business meeting, he was wearing a suit. The young girl could see that underneath the dark shirt was an extremely muscular chest, and she could only guess how strong his arms must be. 

They drove on for quite some time, and it was only shortly before they halted that he finally spoke. He had a deep voice.

"No matter what they say, do not speak to them. Remain in the background, but always close to me. I realize that this is your first mission, but there is no space for a first mistake here, for it might be your last. They will probably try all sorts of tricks with their alices, but now that you're here, you will take care of that too. Understood?" 

Mikan simply nodded, but inside, she was so scared that she wondered if she would be able to control her abilities enough to be of any use. This was it. 

She started to feel a little nervous. What if she forgot? What if she failed? She didn't know what would happen then. The man quietly got out of the car and held the door open for her. She nodded, her lips tightly closed to hide her anxiety, and stood still until he got a suitcase out of the trunk and had shut it. 

The low thud reverberated through the dark silence, and sent a shiver down Mikan's spine. She looked around and tried to make out her surroundings, but there was nothing recognizable. A few warehouses, the smell of the gutters. Nothing much really.

The cold night wind brushed over her face as they started walking. The driver remained behind while the tall man was walking in front of her, his shoes cluttering on the pavement. The young girl didn't dare ask where they were going. 

She didn't feel like herself. From here, she was simply watching what was going on, and felt as if she was looking at herself from another angle. Nothing seemed to belong to her, not her feet walking on the cold stone, not her eyes taking in the dark silhouettes. 

Her collaborator was walking steadily; he knew where he was going. He turned right, then left, then right again. Finally, he pushed open a small door covered in graffiti, leading to a small rectangular room with only a desk and two chairs in it, both facing each other. 

One of those chairs was occupied by a man. He too was wearing a mask, but of a quite unusual attire; it was completely white, with two bright red dots on the cheeks and a big smile painted level with the mouth. It was grotesque. It seemed as if keeping one's identity a secret was one of the top priorities in this kind of business.

Mikan nervously tugged at her own mask, simply to make sure that it was sitting well and hid her face. 

"Mr. Fuji" said the face behind the white mask, ever-smiling. It was the voice of an aged man, but not that old either. He lifted a gloved hand and invitingly directed him to the chair. Fuji sat down with a polite nod. 

"Mr. Jin."

The old man folded his hand on the top of the desk and fixed his piercing eyes onto Mikan, who was trying to discreetly stand in the background, but still close enough to keep an eye on the exchange. 

She had only just noticed the two tall men standing behind Mr. Jin, close to the wall. Behind them, half in the darkness, was a door leading either out or to another room, and the young girl wondered if any danger was lurking behind it. 

She evaluated the two; they were definitely bodyguards. They were also wearing earrings, which meant that they possessed alices. 

"I see that you have brought someone else this time…One of Persona's new boys?"

Fuji gave a vague grunt, difficult to draw a real conclusion from, but the old man seemed satisfied and turned his full attention to the man seated in front of him. 

"Well then, as I have heard Persona is not entirely happy with my new prices. Yet I am sure that he will understand that what I deliver has a certain quality – and with quality comes price. Since the authorities have discovered those other idiots, it has become increasingly difficult to…"

"I am well aware of all of that, my dear friend" Fuji said with his rich voice, "but I'm afraid that this is none of our concern. We provide you with clients, since we don't need everything for ourselves, but that is all we can do. So don't come to us with stories about the authorities when all we want is an agreement."

Mr. Jin inhaled sharply and placed his palms on the desk. He slightly leaned forward, causing Mikan to tense faintly. 

"We can do it both ways, _my friend_. We know that you can't go without it, and we know that we are the best." He casually leaned backwards, fixating his interlocutor with blank eyes. 

"No." Mr. Fuji said harshly. "Either you stick to the agreement or the deal is off."

"You forget…"

Everything happened very quickly then. With a quick movement that almost escaped Mikan, her "tutor" got out of his chair and had stuck his hand under his suit. The two bodyguards edged forward, and Mikan the young girl could feel a shockwave come from one of them aiming directly at the tall man standing in front of her, which she quickly dismissed with a small movement of her hand. It worked, though she felt as if a great amount of energy had just been sucked out of her. 

At the same time, the other man had thrown himself at the old man to protect him from whichever danger there was, but he relied so much on his shielding alice that Mikan had just cancelled that he was incapable of fending off the dagger that was thrown at him. 

It hit him the neck and simply stayed there, stuck in his pulsing flesh by several inches. The man let out a strangled cry which sent down shivers down Mikan's spine, who couldn't do anything else than stare at the scene, horrified. 

The other bodyguard, having recovered slightly from his failed shockwave attack, hurled himself at Fuji, who had taken out a shiny object which had been hidden under his clothed. 

A gun. 

Mikan's eyes widened as she stared at the scene in horror. Was this really happening? It had to be a dream, must be. It couldn't be real.

Yet it was, as real as the sound of the detonation as the cold-blooded man with the bear mask pulled the trigger, sending his attacker back by a few meters. Still, he was standing, trying bravely to get out his own weapon.

He didn't even get that far. A well-aimed shot to his forehead knocked all of the energy out of him, and he stood there for a moment, his eyes open as if in surprise, before collapsing to the floor with a low thud. Mikan would never forget the look in his eyes and the sound his dead body made as it hit the ground. Never.

But it wasn't over yet; the old man was still left. He was desperately trying to move the stabbed man's body out of the way. It was blocking the door, the only possible way for him to get out. It was too late. 

"Mr. Jin"

He froze, knowing what would come next, and his shoulders slumped. He had given up. Slowly, as if age had suddenly made him stiff, he turned around and looked at Fuji. Then, he looked straight into Mikan's eyes, and she could see the pleading desperation that he must feel. 

She couldn't turn away, and he took a step into her direction, stretching out his hands towards her. 

She shied away and stepped back, panicked, and didn't even see Fuji shoot him. He fell to the ground soundlessly. Inside of her, the little girl she once had been started screaming.

Behind her mask, Mikan was silently crying, the silver tears flowing down her face without her doing anything to prevent it, without her wiping them away. She could taste the salt on her lips, and couldn't move.

Fuji stood there for a second before pocketing his weapon and strolling over to the dead bodies, as if nothing had happened. The first thing he did was get his knife out of one of the men's throat, wiping it clean on the corpse's white sleeve shirt. 

Mikan looked at him, bewildered, and could suddenly hardly repress the urge to start giggling hysterically. She couldn't even muster the strength to ask what he was doing; everything seemed so far away, everything was way off. It wasn't meant to be that way. 

She saw Fuji search through Mr. Jin's suit and, apparently having found what he was looking for, retrieved a small square object that Mikan couldn't identify from it. He turned around and looked at her.

"Let's go, job's done. Don't worry, you'll forget. It'll all just blend in at the end, and you won't remember a thing that happened here. Too much will be done between now and then."

Mikan nodded automatically, but at the back of her head, something inside of her was screaming. How could he say that? She followed him to the car and silently got in. It has been her first mission. How could it be? Hadn't she been told that this was going to be easy, nothing compared to what was going to come?

The young girl suddenly wondered if that was true. Would things only get worse from this point on? 

What was this place, who was this man?

But the most important question now was: Who was Persona really?


	21. Out Of Reach

_What was this place, who was this man?_

_But the most important question now was: Who was Persona really?_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One – Out of Reach**

Mikan woke with a start. The sun had barely risen, the first streams of light were finding their way through the open window. She looked down at her hands and knew at once that the night before hadn't been a dream. As if in a trance, Fuji had brought her back to the academy, but she had been too tired to join into the last dance. She hadn't even seen Natsume among the crowd, but that might have been due to the fact that she hadn't looked properly. Who knew. Then again, the question really was: Who cared?

All that she could think of was the mission. The blood. The dead men. And finally, the cold she felt. She had been a part of it, and what had looked like a game at first was now dead serious. She had to keep her friends out of it. Focused on only that one goal, she did not see the resemblance to someone else's situation. For now, she was alone.

Mikan shook her head and got up from her soft bed, which didn't seem the same this morning. Everything was different. Annoyed at herself, she went to stand in front of the mirror and looked herself over furiously. She would not let this take her down in any way. Everything was perfect.

As she was staring at herself, her thoughts trailed off and she got lost in last night's terrible images she would always carry in her memory. These scars were for life, and went deeper than anyone could imagine. As the young girl regained control, she realised she was kneeling on the floor sobbing uncontrollably, trying so hard not to shake. When would this nightmare end?

Too many questions for her to take, she slammed her left fist into the ground and gasped for air as the unexpectedly sharp pain spread out in her whole hand. Somehow, she regained control of her senses and breathed in deeply, which completely cleared her mind. She was stronger than that, she knew that. This struggle was her own, but she would win it.

She straightened up and entered the bathroom, turned up the hot water and stepped into the shower, trying to wash off the feel of blood on her hands, her body, her mind.

Meanwhile, Natsume was sitting in a branch on his favourite Sakura tree, one leg dangling freely while his body rested against the large stem. He had his arms crossed underneath his head, and was gazing up unseeingly at the fading stars. Mikan's window was in his line of sight, and he took the image in along with the fresh morning air.

He loved visiting this place after a mission; last night's hadn't been particularly difficult. Checking out a warehouse for potential enemies, what a laugh. It had been empty. Natsume had chosen to stay out for the rest of the night, striding through the city. He didn't have the nerve to see Mikan on that night, as beautiful as she was; she had probably been dancing with Ryuzaki all night. He would not be the one to ask.

The following weeks passed in a blur. Mikan and Natsume carefully avoided each other, they only spoke when they had to. Their friends were puzzled. They had assumed that they had spent the whole night of the Valentines Dance together, and gotten to agreeable terms. It seemed as if they had been wrong. No one dared to ask either of the two about it, but all thought the same. They had had a fight, because of Natsume's stubbornness and Mikan's sudden change of character.

They didn't speak when they met in the corridors, passed each other during lunch, avoided each other's gaze in class and never smiled at each other anymore. Everyone was concerned, but nobody could help. It had been so long ago that they had gone out to Central Town together that they almost forgot what it had felt before.

Mikan was still feeling very shaken from the events of her first mission, as Persona visited her during one of her detentions. Jinno-sensei had not stopped her gardening work, and she was starting to feel sick of it. Not only wasn't this kind of treatment fair, but also it was tugging at her energy. Her endurance was growing, but she didn't know if she could keep it up in the sun that had started to heat up, along with the nightmares she was having at night.

The masked man stood before her, and she wiped away the sweat from her forehead and straightened up. This situation was too familiar to ignore the slight feeling of unease that had immediately taken hold of her. She had wondered when he would finally come and talk to her.

He chuckled as he took in her somber expression. It seemed as if he was in fact enjoying himself, something which was only partially true; too much was at stake for him to lose this game. He kept his visit short and concise, without any of his played friendliness and bittersweet charm. He was asking her about how she felt about her first mission, but it was all make-belief. As long as he had her under control, he did not care how she felt.

After giving her the dates of her next missions, he disappeared. Apparently, they were all fairly easy and with no remarkable difference to her first one, which to him meant nothing, but to her was as hard to take as the dreams she were having at night and the images that kept on resurfacing. But he would not win. She would not let him see how everything she did got to her.

Mikan suddenly felt dizzy. Persona had gone, there was no need to keep up the façade of strength and indifference. Before she knew what was happening, she could feel the world slipping to the side while her legs weren't able to support her weight anymore. Her head would've hit the ground hadn't strong hands kept her from falling any further.

Everything around her was a blur; she could make out a shape in front of her, but couldn't see clearly enough to recognize who it was.

"Mikan? Are you alright?" His voice was warm, worried.

"Ryuzaki?" she whispered, keeping her eyes closed. Her mouth felt so dry. Who else would she be calling for? After all, he was something like a brother for her.

"Sorry to disappoint" the voice said again, this time a shade cooler, but still unbelievably close to her ear. His grip was firm around her shoulder as he placed one of his hands on her forehead. It was cool and instantly made her feel better; she could smell his skin from where she was lying. It was so familiar.

It was Natsume. Mikan's eyes shot open as she stared into his. She felt like internally slapping herself for having said Ryuzaki's name. It was as if something was always getting between Natsume and her.

For a moment they said nothing, just looked at each other. "What's happening to you?" he suddenly asked quietly.

Mikan couldn't bare to look at him. She realized she was still lying in his arms.

"Nothing" she said curtly. Why did he even bother? The young girl had learned that there were guys who did that: asked questions, pretended they cared, when in fact to them it meant nothing. She didn't know why she counted him into that group of guys, she wanted to badly to believe that he was different. But he had proved her wrong so many times, after building up her hopes.

"You should go." She had a lot to think about, her missions to prepare for, her friends to go out with, classes to go to. She would not permit herself to show any weakness like this again. Natsume let go of her as if he had burnt his fingers, and stood up in a single stiff motion.

"If that is what you want."

She wanted to look him in the eye, but he had already turned to go. Without being able to stop herself, she raised her hand towards his retreating figure, as if to hold him back. He had walked away from her so many times, and a single tear slid down her face. 'Of course I don't want you to go' she wanted to scream. She could not keep her world together.

Once again, Persona was investigating the relationship between the two most prized pawns in his game. He was standing in the shadows of the nearby trees, watching. There was definitely something between them, and he was eager to "experiment" a little, in given time. He had always found pleasure in such happenstances.

Again, weeks passed and it seemed as if Natsume and Mikan could not find back to each other. The young girl tried to concentrate on nothing else but her missions. In her free time, she studied, to keep herself from reliving the pain she experienced every time she was out. Her friends were puzzled and didn't know how to react to this change of hers.

She told them not to worry; she simply had to concentrate on her studies more because she realized it could not continue the way it had been going on the whole year. "Maybe then I'll be able to get rid of my detention" she had added with a short laugh.

The only time she wasn't in her room was when she was training at her own lake. Nobody ever went there, and it was the only place she could ever be herself. She did not permit herself to break down. After every mission she went to, a different part of her shattered. She feared that soon, there would not be enough parts left for her to be put together again, and that she would lose herself. Wasn't there anyone who could save her?

Everything had fallen back into a pattern Mikan could find comfort in as Persona came to find her again. Again, he did not stay for polite conversation. He was keeping up the pretense of civilized conversation, but the tension between them was undeniable. It didn't bother him in the least.

"I have a very important mission for you Mikan. I have observed your progress and found you ready for this task."

"What says I still want to work for you?" she spat. She hated him, simple as that.

"Oh but my dear, of course you don't _want_ to work for me. I just thought we had both come to an agreement. I do believe that I don't have to lay out the terms in front of you again, since I'm sure your friends never leave your mind." He gave her a meaningful look; she could see his eyes flashing behind his mask.

She ground her teeth and said nothing.

"This mission will be different. More dangerous than anything you will ever have done. And you will have a partner."

"I work best alone" she said in a low voice. She wouldn't work with a cold-blooded stranger again. Fuji sometimes accompanied her, but he usually stayed in the background. That was how she wanted it.

"That will be utterly impossible" he said in a clear voice that held no doubt he would not change his mind. "Don't worry, your partner is quite extraordinary. You should know."

Mikan didn't know what he meant, but maybe it was better for her not to.

He continued. "Four precious alice stones have been stolen last year. We managed to retrieve three of the four, but one has gone missing. We have found out that it has been placed under surveillance on a high security island, guarded by numerous alices. However, I am absolutely positive that you and your partner will get in safely. Your task consists in bringing it back to me. Any damage you two will cause on the island will not be accounted for, which means: do as you wish."

The young girl shivered as she realized what he meant. They could kill anyone they wanted, without it being a problem.

"That will be it. This task has been set for today in a week. Meet me at the meadow. I expect everything to go down _perfectly_."

And then he was gone. Mikan decided not to think about anything related to that mission until a few days before it. She felt that this time, it would be different. She would not let anything get between her friends and her.

The young girl suddenly felt alone. She would plan a day out in Central Town with her friends; it could be the last time she saw them.

Persona was unusually thoughtful as he called Natsume to him. 'Pity I can't actually see them on that mission' he mused.

The arrival of the black cat stopped his thread of thought. Faking his best smile, he greeted him with a lazy movement of his hand.

"I have a new mission for you, my friend. You remember the fourth alice stone you failed to retrieve, don't you?"

Natsume's eyes narrowed. That event seemed so long ago, he had completely forgotten. "I told you someone else would have to do it. My alice isn't strong enough to penetrate the island."

"Such impatience, my young friend." Natsume stiffened at his words, and Persona chuckled. "You will not do this mission alone; you will have a partner."

Just like Mikan, his reaction was defensive. "I work _alone_" he growled.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but not this time. You _will_ work with a partner, no matter what else you want. No one said you have to treat each other nicely. This wasn't even a suggestion. It's set exactly next week. Meet me at the meadow. By now, you should know when."

After Persona had left, Natsume felt that he was in a terrible mood.

The one thing both Mikan and he realized that Persona had never mentioned was the other person's identity. It didn't matter.

They didn't plan on making it easy for the other. This was their mission. No one would interfere.


	22. One Mistake Is All It Takes

**Alright. There is no excuse for that length of time I did not post. My apologies. Hope the length of the chapter can make up for it... I really appreciate all of the reviews I get, even now. They encouraged me to take writing up again. Enjoy.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.  
**

* * *

_The one thing both Mikan and he realized that Persona had never mentioned was the other person's identity. It didn't matter._

_They didn't plan on making it easy for the other. This was their mission. No one would interfere._

_

* * *

_

Chapter Twenty-Two – One Mistake Is All It Takes

Mikan was very tense over the next week. It passed very quickly, and she dreaded the passing time. Yet, she knew that it was unstoppable. She realized that this mission tonight would be extremely important and sensed its difference to the previous ones. She was too occupied with her own thoughts to think about much else.

Her friends were playing a ball game in the park, while she lay beside the schoolbags they had carelessly thrown onto the ground, watching them. She knew that Ruka had gone to look for Natsume, who was difficult to find nowadays. Hotaru kept on glancing over her shoulder to see if he had come back yet, but tried hard not to look too concerned.

It vaguely occurred to her that she hadn't gone to see Ryuzaki that often anymore, and that they had made no progress in transferring back his alice. Time was getting shorter, and Mikan felt sad that she couldn't help him any further.

A few times, they had manages to get to where they had already been once, and the young girl had always felt that they were so close to the answer. She had felt his alice flow into her hands as she was moving them closer to his body, but always that invisible barrier that stopped her from giving it back to him.

There was something else, though, that she had never dared tell him and that she kept secret from Persona as well as she could; she had used that pain alice quite a few times during her missions. To inflict pain by just looking at others was often the most convenient way to get to what she needed. That prospect scared her; she needed to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

Mikan got up, called over to her friends that she'd be back later to go to Central Town with them, and went to find Ryuzaki. He had taken to helping out in school for the time being since he didn't go to classes anymore, doing bits and pieces where needed to fill up his days. At this time, he'd probably be in his room.

She got to his door, which as usual stood half open, and was about to knock when she heard Hiroshi's voice coming from the room. What did the blonde young man want from Ryuzaki? She couldn't remember the last time she had seen them together, apart from that very first meeting where she had taken Ryuzaki's alice.

"I would suggest you look out, because you might never know who she hangs around with. She's not who you think she is." It was difficult to read a meaning from Hiroshi's statement.

"We never were who everyone else thought, either, so what are you talking about?"

"I'm impressed, you got there much quicker than I thought. I don't know why I'm telling you this, maybe because we always used to do everything together. Like brothers. I'm sorry I'm not like you; you were always the good one. And you were better at everything you did."

"What do you mean? It's not you whose alice got lost, and it's not you who will have to go soon. I regret what we used to do for _him_, but you know we had no choice."

"I'm telling you this now because I don't want anything to happen. Losing someone never is pleasant, we both know. In this case, she is not yours to lose, but I refuse to speak to the Black Cat about it."

"You mean she's in danger?" Ryuzaki almost sounded angry now.

"She's been for quite a while, but you know, she's a fighter. Just make sure there are no misunderstandings. People should always look out for what they love the most."

Mikan didn't know what to make of it. Hiroshi spoke of losing someone; yet, he never acted as if he cared about anyone enough to bother. Was it really brotherly affection towards Ryuzaki that made him say all of those things, or was his intention to stir things up? Besides, what would he know about love? He was so…cold.

Like Natsume? Yet she knew that he had the ability to love. He had proven it to her so many times, yet never the way she had wanted. Always distant, always waiting for love to come so that he could reject it, though it was what he needed the most.

"Whatever you say, man. It was nice seeing you again, for old times' sake. Now run along, do whatever we always used to." Ryuzaki and Hiroshi both chuckled quietly; Mikan saw that they were both still on quite familiar terms.

What was going on? She had didn't know what they had been talking about, and didn't really care at the moment. Maybe the fact that Ryuzaki and Hiroshi, who were both so different, were both on such familiar terms, threw her off. She had almost forgotten that they were friends, or at least had been.

Hiroshi came through the door, saw her and winked before disappearing down the corridor. Mikan shrugged. She wasn't so sure she wanted to know the story behind this. Let things be how they were.

Seeing Ryuzaki happy immediately brought a smile to her own face as she entered his brightly lit room. As she saw him, she knew what she had come for; she would return him his alice. She knew there was a way, and she would find it before going on that mission.

However useful it may be for defending herself, it still didn't feel as if she should have it. It wasn't _hers._

As usual, conversation wasn't difficult. With Ryuzaki, she could laugh. Nothing they said was wrong.

"By the way, I figured something out today" Ryuzaki started. "The alice flows through the body of a person in a set path. It's more of a fleeting power, so there is a barrier that keeps it within your body." Mikan's eyes lit up as he said this. It was exactly what she was feeling each time: a barrier.

"So that means you found a way to cross that barrier?" she asked hopefully.

"It isn't easy to understand. Apparently, the subconscious mind keeps it closed at all times so that the alice doesn't escape." Mikan grimaced at this.

"But doesn't that mean that if, somehow, you managed to open that barrier, you could force an alice into just any person?"

"That would surely kill them. You must be one of those lucky ones who can take up other people's alices without getting hurt by it." The young man grinned. "But that's not the point. It says that if you concentrate hard enough on being _open, _whatever that means, it might be possible to…" He trailed off, but Mikan had caught the hopeful edge to his words. This was a chance, however slim, for her to redeem herself.

"Let's do it then."

As so many times before, she positioned herself in front of him while he sat on his bed, and placed her hands on his shoulders.

She closed her eyes and searched within herself the feeling of the foreign alice, brought it to her hands while feeling the barrier in Ryuzaki's body. Instead of trying to force it, she waited patiently, gently probing for an opening.

Mikan felt the tension in his shoulders relax as he tried to take the alice back in. Suddenly, her hands were burning cold as an invisible force reclaimed what had been taken. Ryuzaki gasped but didn't move; then, in an instant, it was over.

The young girl moved away. Finally, she had been able to return his alice. She beamed at him as she saw his green eyes waver in gratitude and happiness.

Little did she know that through this success, she had just traded away the strongest weapon that she had for the coming mission. She still had her self defense, her other weapons, and of course her own alice, but they all didn't show the same instantaneous effect as the pain alice. Had Persona known about this transaction, he might have thought again before sending her; he counted on this main advantage she possessed. As it were, fate would let events unfold.

But for the moment, she was happy. Before asking him, she already knew that it had worked. She stood there smiling as he threw his arms around her neck and held her in a tight embrace. Mikan didn't hesitate before hugging him back.

But her thoughts trailed off to Natsume. It was hopeless, she knew. She would never be able to give him up.

The brunette retreated into the safety of her own mind, blocking those unwelcome thoughts and focusing on Ryuzaki. They talked for a while before Mikan left him to go to Central Town with her friends. She coul not remember having been this happy in a long time. As expected, Natsume never showed.

Mikan woke with a start. It was dark in her room, and she sighed. She had meant to lie on her bed to relax a little so shortly before her mission, but had ended up falling asleep. As always.

She stretched and got up. She was already wearing her black clothes and gloves; the mask was waiting on the bedside table. As quietly as she could, she made her way to the meadow. She chuckled humourlessly to herself; she had gone this way so many times now, she was sure she could find it with her eyes closed.

Persona was already there, next to him another student. Something about him was strangely familiar, but like her, he was wearing a mask. She ignored him as well as she could. Despite what Persona had told her, she would not consider him as her _partner._ He would only complicate things.

Without further introduction, the tall man unfolded a map in front of them. "This is a plan of the fortress and the island. We can only open up a secret passage on the north side of the fortress, while others will cause distractions on both the south and the east. This should give both of you enough time to enter. As soon as you're inside, you're on your own. Don't forget the instructions I gave you before."

Mikan thought back. Her sole task was to keep others away from her _partner_ who would retrieve the stone on his own. Her own alice would make sure that the shields were inactive while he was inside the high security area. A boat would wait on the west bay, which would stay quiet throughout the assault if everything went according to plan.

Mikan nodded at the same time as the other student did. For some reason, this annoyed her. She looked at him more closely. He was tall and lean, wearing a black mask.

_The black cat_, she realized. He was looking back at her.

Natsume was speechless, but he knew that none of this would be apparent in his stance. His partner was a _girl._ As if things couldn't get any worse than this. But apparently, she had a useful alice, and if she kept any potential threats at bay and was able to unlock the safety barriers around the precious stone, he would not complain.

They silently got into the car that would bring them to the boats that were waiting to take them to the island. This gave him time to reflect upon a wondrous conversation that had never left his mind since it had occurred in the afternoon.

"_Black cat." _

_Natsume turned to look at the young man standing behind him. Ryuzaki._

"_Falcon." He nooded curtly._

"_It's been a while." Ryuzaki smiled darkly._

"_What brings you here?" _

"_Mikan."_

_That name was enough to bring out an array of emotions in Natsume. He decided to say nothing._

"_She might be in trouble. You know her better than anyone else, can't you see how she is keeping something to herself?"_

_Still, Natsume said nothing. There had to be another purpose to this._

"_Persona might have his eye on her." _

_That name was enough to enrage the young man completely. Had he hurt her? He was the reason he could never be with her. Persona had promised that as long as he complied, no harm would come to her. _

"_What did he do?"_

"_I'm not sure." Ryuzaki weighed his words carefully. "I just want you to make sure nothing happens. Since I haven't seen him since I lost my alice, I had no way in checking up on him. But Mikan returned my alice today; I don't think he knows yet, so should it come down to it we will have an advantage." _

"_An advantage?"_

"_I have wanted to do this for quite some time now; take him out. I just never had a reason to, apart from the obvious. But if he plans on hurting Mikan in any way, it is better to be safe than sorry."_

_Natsume spoke in a rushed voice now. "Alright, I'm out for some business again tonight, but I promise I'll make sure nothing's wrong when I get back."_

"_Good. I just wanted you to know that I'm your ally."_

_The raven-haired boy acknowledged that with a movement of his head. _

"_And one more thing" Ryuzaki added while looking him in the eye. "I'm not trying to take her from you." He turned around and left. _

How come he hadn't wondered about Mikan and Persona earlier? He silently prayed that it wasn't too late yet, but failed to believe that. She had changed so drastically. How long had it been? A few days, weeks, months even?

Natsume dismissed those thoughts as the car stopped and he got out. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted, not tonight. He realized that this mission would be more difficult than the others, and more dangerous. He sat very still on the boat, imitated by the girl. He wondered what she was thinking.

It was very quiet as they came ashore. A number of people disappeared into different directions, hand signaling to each other to make sure everyone was in the right positions before they started the diversion.

Straight ahead was the fortress. It was an exquisite mixture between an old-fashioned castle and a high security modern safe-house. Or prison.

Mikan and Natsume both got out and edged closer to the rocks on the beach. A thick forest surrounded the great building, and Natsume shook his head; this gave any assailant cover.

They heard the explosions and screams from afar. This was the signal they had been waiting for. They dove out of cover and ran the few meters of uncovered land that separated them from the forest where they'd be fairly safe.

The girl kept her pace with him. At least he wouldn't have to wait for her. Nimbly, they climbed a seemingly random pile of boulders, and rolled one of them out of the way. The secret passage way lay in front of them, built as an escape route, but they knew that it was safely protected by alices.

The black cat stepped back to let the girl do her job. She seemed to concentrate for a short moment, then nodded and took a step into the opening. Nothing happened, and they continued on, walking through a dimly lit corridor.

They had memorized the plan of the building completely and didn't need to think twice about which turns to take. It was if they'd already been here before.

As they got closer to their destination, guards were posted more regularly. They took them out in turns, depending on who was closer. Her moves were swift and controlled; she knew what she was doing. He also noticed that she never killed them, merely knocked them unconscious.

Natsume was thankful for the diversion. He knew that many guards were away from their usual posts. Even so, they had to be careful. The young man wondered why none of them seemed to possess an alice. He had gotten ready to fend off all sorts of offense like fire, ice, water, currents, paralysis. Nothing. Maybe they were just lucky.

"Look out!" he shouted as he threw himself at the girl in front of him. A projectile missed her by inches and hit the ground, leaving a small dent. Instead of freezing up in shock, she ducked out under his protective stance and ran towards the attacker.

Was she insane? His electric missiles, produced with his alice, would surely hit her; Natsume could not even start imagining the injury it would cause. Yet, nothing happened as she reached the guard and knocked him unconscious with a well-aimed blow against his head. He dismissed it as a fluke. Maybe she simply _was_ good at what she was doing.

So far, so good. He climbed yet another ladder, then turned and helped her through the opening. To his surprise, she accepted his hand. Outside, loud shouts and dog barks were heard, but Natsume knew that they were running out of time.

They ran around another corner, then stopped. There it was. It was a long room, at the end of which a sealed container stood. Anyone else could have been fooled by the simplicity of this room, but both of them knew better. Deadly alices were woven around the container, touched the ground and ceiling, leaked through the different layers of air.

A wrong step, and they would be caught in the net of traps that had been laid out. It was her call.

Natsume hated leaving responsibility to someone else, but he knew that any effort of his would be futile in this case.

"I'll go stand watch" he said curtly and turned back to keep an eye on the corridor.

Mikan nodded and watched the Black Cat go. There it was, her most difficult task yet. She closed her eyes and felt for the alices that were saturating the air around her, and her breath caught at the intensity of the energy she was feeling.

Slowly, she started canceling the alices she could identify, as if she were looking for switches she had to turn to deactivate them. After only a little while, sweat formed on her forehead and she winced as she could feel her own energy drain away with the effort.

The young man came back. She felt his presence behind her without turning around; his alice was a strong one. He instantly recognized that she would not be able to finish her work with her energy alone.

"Here" he whispered. He had done this before, but didn't know why he would share his power with a complete stranger. Despite his initial animosity towards the girl, his contempt in having to _share_ a mission with a _partner_, he now felt the need to help her out. _"It has to be done_" he told himself.

Mikan felt his hands on the bare skin of her neck, the only exposed part of her body. Slowly, she felt force return to her tired limbs, and she took her work up with his help. It was a matter of only a few minutes before all alices had been neutralized.

She opened her eyes and sighed. Without hesitation, he took his hands off her neck and walked into the room. The air felt cool and refreshing on her skin as she followed him. He kneeled in front of the container and she let him do his work. The container was sealed, but not with alices, so there was nothing she could do to assist him.

Mikan sat against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to regain control over her breathing. What she had done had worn her out more than she was willing to admit. She looked up just in time to see him take the alice stone out of the container and place it into the inside pocket of his black shirt. It was of a clear turquoise colour, and nothing like she had imagined it to be. But beautiful nonetheless.

Then, to her surprise, he took another stone out of his pocket and replaced the actual stone. It was nowhere near as pretty, but at first glance, a passable imitation. Then, he closed the container and got up.

She was next to him in an instant as he made his way towards the exit. Suddenly, she stumbled, and her vision became blurred before she refocused her eyes on the ground in front of her. Mikan shook her head to get rid of the vague feeling of dizziness that was clouding her mind.

They had almost made it. The brunette knew that around the next bend or so, they would get to the corridor that would lead them out and back to the forest. Back to the boats that would bring them back home and end this nightmare. Already, she could feel the eyes of the men she had knocked unconscious burning into her mind. For some, she wasn't even sure if she hadn't killed them.

She was barely looking where she was going and almost ran into her partner's back as he stopped dead in his track. They were surrounded by guards.

Natsume swore under his breath. So close to completing this mission without any dead or serious injuries. Now, it looked as if either of that could not be avoided. He unleashed his flames onto the men, who screamed and fell to the ground. Why were there so many of them? He got his dagger out of his pocket and saw that the girl had done the same.

He struck the men that were coming for him, ignoring the agonized screams of pain as both fire and steel burned deep into their flesh. Mikan, for the first time, wished she hadn't given up the pain alice; it would make the big difference now, and they would be able to escape.

The black cat barely flinched as a blow from the side knocked the breath out of him. Without turning, he sent a ring of flames onto the assailant. One more faceless man among the many he had already hurt, crippled, killed. Who knew, maybe that was what he was made for. Natsume grit his teeth and continued finding a way through the combatants. Then, he was through; he could run.

He turned, then froze as he realized that the girl wasn't there anymore. She had fallen back, still fighting furiously, but she was struggling. Two men hit her at the same time, and she fell to her knees.

Natsume hesitated just a second too long. Before he could do anything, they had seized the girl by her arms and legs and were already dragging her away while some of the men came to capture him. He sent a salve of fireballs that swept them off their feet, and ran to rescue her.

Strong arms kept him from doing so. "There's nothing you can do for her now. You have the stone, that's what's important. Come with me." It was one of Persona's men.

But Natsume knew that he couldn't just leave. He tore himself away and ran, barely realizing that the girl's mask was lying on the ground. The guards had a head start. They were getting into an elevator, and as the doors closed, the black cat was able to get a fleeting look at her inert body in the arms of one of the men.

Horrified, he stumbled and only caught himself in the last second. The doors closed, but he had seen enough.

It was impossible.

"No!" he shouted. "NOO!"

He launched himself at the cold steel doors, which seemed to be mocking him in their stillness, before a blow to the side of his head robbed him of his consciousness.

The world went black.


	23. To The Rescue

-1_He launched himself at the cold steel doors, which seemed to be mocking him in their stillness, before a blow to the side of his head robbed him of his consciousness. _

_The world went black._

_

* * *

_**Chapter Twenty-Three - To The Rescue**

_Natsume was running, he was almost there. He could see _her _lying in their arms, unconscious and as pale as death. He had to save her. He had to hold her. People, masked men were running towards him but he pushed them aside, barely noticing them. There she was, almost at arm's reach. They would pay for making her suffer. _

_More and more masked men seemed to be blocking his way, and he could feel his energy draining away. No, he couldn't, _wouldn't_ give up. He knocked the last man out of the way, was so close to her he could almost touch her hand. Suddenly, Natsume ran into a barrier and was flung backwards. He looked up, and she was gone. Terrible laughter filled the air, and he could feel hatred fill his entire being. Then there was a scream, laced with agony and despair, and it took him a moment before he realised it was his own. _

The black cat sat up with a start, but strong arms fought him down and he found himself unable to struggle out of the muscular grip. He could hear that they were back on the boat; the sound of waves and the constant hum of the motor sounded through the night. He wondered how far they had already gone.

A muffled voice reached his ear, bringing him to the edge of reason.

"We have to calm him first. Make sure we're back at the Academy before anything that might jeopardise the success of our mission happens."

Why could he not move?

"Let me go! We have to go back. _I have to go back!_"

"Tie him up if he tries to go back. Don't worry, I gave him a sedative. Persona shoulda known something like that would happen"

Natsume closed his eyes. He would make them pay, every single one of them. Concentrating hard, he found that he was unable to access his alice. Nothing he hadn't encountered before; they would need more than just a sedative to keep him calm.

Slowly breathing through his nose, he could feel a spark of a flame appear in his hand. Slowly, he worked towards making it grow, nurturing it with his hatred. He knew that if he went back now, he would not be able to save her. He would be captured, tortured and killed. But did he deserve any better? It was the only way. He had failed her.

Mikan. How could he not have realised? She was the only person he knew with a nullification alice. He had told Ryuzaki that he would deal with it as soon as he got back from the mission. He had waited too long.

His throat tightened as he thought of her, remembering the smile on her face and the look in her eyes that used to appear whenever she saw him. When was the last time she had given it to him? He had to go back, he didn't have a choice.

Natsume struggled to his knees, and worked on burning the ropes that were binding him.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The young man looked up, straight into the eyes of one of Persona's men.

"I can't let you ruin this mission" he said, determined. "Persona promised that if we came back and brought the stone, I could go home. Please."

Natsume laughed bitterly. The man was a fool to believe.

"Do you really think that's going to happen? How long have you been in his service? 1 year? 10 years, 15? He will keep you as long as he needs you. He will kill you when he's done. There is no escape."

"Then why not spare your partner such a fate? Her death will be quick. It might just save all of our lives."

"No. She is not just my partner. _She will not die for me!_" Natsume's voice had risen, was now as sharp as a blade.

"Well then I have no choice." The other man removed a syringe from his coat pocket. "Persona gave me this, just in case something went wrong. He said it would work better than any alice. I didn't want this to happen. Don't worry, it won't hurt much."

He moved closer, and the black cat waited. As soon as he was in range, he shot up and threw the bulky man to the ground; the burnt remains of the rope fell off him, and he rammed his knee into his opponent's throat. He started choking.

A flame appeared in Natsume's palm. He held it close to the man's face.

"If you don't tell those men to turn back _now_, I will burn everything down and _swim_. Understood?"

"But…please. Think about it. These men are tired and wounded, we would not stand a chance."

"We have to go back, it's the only way."

The man understood. "You need us. But you are willing to die to save someone, and I suppose I owe you as much. Never would I have thought to help the black cat one day. I will help you, but under one condition. We will wait for reinforcements. One of the men is a healer."

"That would take too long! We are wasting time just standing here talking! How are you going to convince Persona's men to come now?"

The slightest of smiles appeared on the man's face. "I have been here long enough to obtain some of his men's loyalty. Just like I have helped them before, they will now help me. It is our only chance of survival."

Natsume considered, but he knew that the man was right. He would not make it on his own. Besides, a healer would definitely be a useful addition to the team.

"Alright, you go and call your reinforcements. But if I see you doing anything else, you will be the last to die, and believe me. It's not going to be pleasant."

He got up and stretched out his hand. The other man grabbed it.

_

Mikan could not stop screaming. She had tried, with all her might. Now, all she could feel was pain. Pain and the cold around her. No, it seemed to be inside of her, starting in her chest and spreading into her arms, legs, would not loosen its grip on her aching body.

How had it ever come that far? She should not have failed, should have forgotten about her partner. It was his fault she was in this situation. She had seen a man coming at him from behind, and realised that there was no way the black cat would be able to dodge him, so she had thrown herself at him and most probably killed him. At the same time, she had fallen back and had been surrounded in less than a heartbeat.

But the young girl could not blame him; she had failed, and deserved this punishment. She deserved no better than what she was receiving.

"_Where is the stone?"_

A sharp voice vaguely fought its way into her clouded mind, and she felt herself being thrown to the ground. A whimper escaped her lips, but Mikan had long since stopped trying to keep it all in.

"_Who sent you?"_

Mikan clenched her jaw. She knew that she would not be able to last much longer, but she had to.

_I'm not giving up. This is my chance to prove myself. _

Memories of the people she loved surged up, and she was immediately filled with calmness and tranquility. Her mind had started wandering off, and now nothing could bring her back to the pain she was enduring.

_

Natsume was pacing impatiently. He hadn't stop worrying ever since Deisuke had called in reinforcements. They had arrived and he had been healed, but things didn't seem to be moving fast enough. Though he felt relief at being cured from his light injuries, he didn't care about his own well-being at the moment.

The black cat found the other man to be an extremely good leader and now almost regretted his rash behaviour, but it had been necessary. He was willing to do anything to save Mikan's life. And if those men had hurt her… He didn't even want to start imagining what he would do.

Finally, the men were ready. To them this was new, as nobody had ever been called as reinforcement to someone else's mission. To them, this was failure. They were all wondering what was so important for the black cat to be willing to risk Persona's wrath and his own life by returning to this place of great danger.

Deisuke and Natsume had quickly devised a plan. The island would still be well-guarded, but not on high alert since they weren't expecting them to return so soon. They would go in through the same escape tunnel they had already used, hoping the alices to guard it had not yet been renewed. As soon as they were inside, they would have to split up, one of the men with a detection alice would find out where Mikan was kept. Persona really had recruited men with an array of useful alices. Deisuke had warned Natsume to keep his cool and to wait until everyone was in position, but he didn't even dream of doing that. As soon as he knew where she was, he would go and rescue her on his own.

The black cat gave a signal, and everyone started moving. Natsume was almost running by the time he got to the tunnel, too wound up to wait for the other men. He had to set things right.

He slowed as he got to the entrance of the passageway. But did he really have the time to figure out whether the alices had been reactivated? The answer was clear; Natsume sped up, bracing himself should there be anything trying to stop him.

Nothing happened, and he chuckled lightly. He stopped and turned around, waiting for the others to follow. Unlike him, they did not know their way around and he would have to give them directions, atleast to begin with.

Everything was quiet.

"She's around here somewhere, I can feel it."

Natsume forced himself to remain calm. As long as he didn't know where she was, there was no point in leaving the group.

"Upstairs."

In his head, Natsume went over the plan he had memorised, thinking of the shortest way to get to the higher floors.

"This way."

Natsume barely noticed the muffled groans of the guards he took out on his way. He usually felt a pang of guilt and regret every time he had to resort to violence, but not this time. Everything seemed to be going so fast, yet he got the feeling that he wasn't moving fast enough. Time was precious, and he could not afford to make mistakes.

The alarm had gone off, and he could hear running steps coming towards him. Natsume could feel his energy slowly fading, but his determination edged him on. Without stopping, he cast flames at his opponents, moving through them like a berserk.

He looked around, but his men were all engaged in the fight.

"She's behind that door, at the end of the corridor!"

Natsume nodded darkly and sprinted away. He was so close now. Finding the door, he slowed down. Was it guarded by an alice? He came to a halt and wondered how best to open it, but it didn't really matter. Sending a salve of fireballs against the metal frame, he smiled darkly as it burst. He kicked it open.

It was dark inside the room, and he lit a small fire in the palm of his hands. He scanned the room quickly but never in his wildest dreams would he have expected such a sight. It wasn't that he hadn't seen something like that before; he had.

But hadn't he worked towards keeping _her_ safe? Everything he did, he did for her. Was it all for nothing? Persona would have to die. In a blind rage, Natsume lit the chair in the corner of the room on fire and ran towards Mikan.

He tried ignoring the smears of blood on the wall and on the floor, tried ignoring the sound of her ragged and shallow breathing, tried ignoring the dark bruises and deep gashes on her face and arms. He had always believed that his heart was a cold stone, a block of ice burning in his chest, unable to be moved by anything or anyone. Now, he could feel it breaking.

Unshed tears were burning in his eyes, closing up his throat; the palms of his hands were itching, aching to inflict pain. But the worst emotion was hatred, not against those who had done this, but against himself.

He had broken her heart so many times. This was his fault. He had let her down, ignored the signs. Pure loathing filled his being. She did not deserve this. She was the light at the end of the tunnel, her laughter was his salvation.

Natsume fell onto his knees next to her inert form. As if he was scared his touch might break her, he gently lifted her up and held her in his arms, as lightly as he could. She whimpered, and the black cat would have sold his soul to make it all undone.

Turning towards the door, he found two silhouettes blocking the way.

"I see you came back for her. How honourable, after abandoning her like this." The taller of the two had spoken.

"How _dare_ you" Natsume spat. His crimson eyes were glowing. Before he could do anything, the other man fired his alice at him. Still holding Mikan in his arms, he could not react fast enough. He turned around to shield her with his body and received a ball of electric energy into his back.

That blow would have sent any other man to his knees and maybe even knocked him unconscious, but the black cat was way past that point; he was going crazy with rage and soon, would not be able to contain his hatred anymore.

He turned back around and faced them. Both men were surprised at seeing him standing, then took a few steps into the room. Natsume had only been waiting for that. Using his alice, he created a barrier of fire behind them, blocking the way to the exit. That way, he could make sure they wouldn't run away when he started torturing them.

Laying Mikan on the ground gently, he prepared himself.

The man with the electricity alice ran towards him, a massive charge building up between his hands. Natsume guessed that this would be to distract him, and created a circle of fire around the other man. Close enough to burn him, but still large enough to keep him alive until Natsume was done with the first man. Before he had reached him, the black cat sent a wave of flame towards him, and he fell down, screaming.

That was when Natsume lost control. He didn't know what he was doing anymore, just knew that his only purpose was to kill slowly. That was how he usually did it, and how he was able to endure his missions. He forgot who he was, forgot what he was doing. The job had to get done.

"Get up, we have to get out of here _fast_!"

Natsume blinked and looked up. The room was dark, and Deisuke was standing next to him, pulling his arm. He was looking at him with fear in his eyes, but Natsume pulled himself together and got up. In one swift movement, he picked Mikan up and followed the other man, who had started running, out of the room.

As their group gathered together and was making their way towards the exit, Natsume lit the corridors on fire behind him.

Deisuke was about to tell him to stop, but didn't dare. The screams he had heard coming from the room, and the mangled and burnt remains of two men… Maybe it was better to not direct his fury towards him.

They reached the boat and Natsume immediately set Mikan down, taking off his jacket to soften the ground she was lying on. While the men were setting off, Natsume called for the healer.

"Hurry up!"

It pained him not to be the one who with the ability to help her; he had to stand by and watch. Gradually, the wounds disappeared, but the pallor on her face stayed.

Natsume went to take Mikan's hand, then froze as he realized that she had stopped breathing.

* * *

**A/N: I admit, this is a pretty bad chapter. I had no idea how to set it all up, but it was necessary for the story to move on. Should I ever be able to rewrite this, I will upload the new version as soon as I can. Until then…**

**Sorry for the cheesy emotional bit in the middle. I just thought that his thoughts and emotions had to be brought across like this. And the dream right at the beginning. I guess I have a thing for dreams and drama...**

**Deisuke is another invented character.. He's not that important, but I thought I'd give him a name. Please review :) **


	24. Till The End

**Alright then. For those who still want it, this is it. The conclusion :) **

**I really really hope it's a satisfactory end! Because this is what I had in mind when I started writing my story, all those years ago. But at the same time, so much was added in the course of it. And it was really difficult to tie everything together. And it took a lot of time. And a lot of patience from all of you, my readers. And I'm really grateful for every single review and comment you've left for this story, that kept me believing in my ability to finish it. **

**So thank you all, my dear readers :) (I actually can't believe this is the end..)  
**

**But here goes:  
**

* * *

_It pained him not to be the one who with the ability to help her; he had to stand by and watch. Gradually, the wounds disappeared, but the pallor on her face stayed._

_Natsume went to take Mikan's hand, then froze as he realized that she had stopped breathing._

**Chapter Twenty-Four - Till The End**

"Do something!" Natsume yelled. "_I said do something!_"

The fire caster was going crazy, his anger flaring up, and all the men feared he might explode at any given second and set the boat on fire.

Suddenly Mikan gasped, and started stirring without opening her eyes. Natsume immediately calmed down and gripped her ice-cold hand a little tighter.

The healer sat back, exhausted, and wiped his face with his hands.

"That's all I can do for her. Now, all we can do is wait and see if she wakes up."

"_When_ she wakes up" Natsume corrected, but the healer avoided his gaze.

"Alright everyone, back to work!" Deisuke shouted, and Natsume realised that some of them had been watching the girl in silence. They had already traveled far enough from the island to consider themselves safe, but that was no reason to slow down.

Natsume sat down next to Mikan and took her right hand between both of his hands. He looked down at her face, taking in the light, bruise-like colour of her eyelids and the whiteness of her skin.

He lifted her hand to his lips and held it close.

"I promise I'll make him pay" he whispered, his lips touching her skin at every word, trying not to think about the pain she had had to endure. The traces of that were gone, wiped away by the touch of the healer, but the memory remained. "If it's the last thing I do."

Not much was said on the way back to the Academy. Natsume hoped Mikan would wake up, but she didn't move. Only her shallow breathing showed him that she was still alive.

When they finally reached the port, Natsume didn't wait for Deisuke to tie the boat up. He picked Mikan up in his arms and jumped ashore. A driver was already waiting to take him to the Academy.

To his surprise, Ryuzaki was waiting for him there and started running towards him as he saw him approach..

"Bad news, black cat, I can't find…" He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide with disbelief when he spotted Mikan in his arms.

"I swear, I'm going to kill him" Natsume breathed, his words sharp and filled with hatred.

"I'm going with you" Ryuzaki replied, determined.

"What good are you for this? I'm sorry, but you'd be in the way."

"I'm glad you think so, but there is no way I'm not coming with you. I'll explain later."

Natsume was too angry to ask what he meant, and started walking. It was the middle of the night, and he hoped that everyone was asleep. He didn't need witnesses.

He would first bring Mikan back to her room and ask Ryuzaki to wake Hotaru to look after her. This might buy him enough time to find Persona and finish him.

He didn't quite get that far. Leaning against a tree, in his usual cool fashion, the masked man was already waiting for him, barring his way.

"Go get help" Natsume muttered, trying to get Ryuzaki to go away. This was between him and Persona, and he didn't want anyone else interfering.

"No."

"Take her and get her to safety" Natsume snapped. He didn't want to let her out of his sight, but it was better if Mikan wasn't present in such a situation. That finally did the trick, and the other young man reached out to get her from him.

"The girl stays here" Persona ordered sharply. "I want to have a look at her."

"Over my dead body" Natsume growled.

"My dear boy, there is no need to talk like that."

"I won't repeat myself, do you hear me?"

"Are you threatening me?"

The black cat stared at his opponent, his crimson eyes blazing with hatred and contempt. He knew that Persona's alice was strong. He would just have to be stronger.

"When I say _go_, you run" he told Ryuzaki, who simply nodded.

"I don't think so."

Behind Persona, a group of his most loyal men appeared, closing off any escape. They were all wearing masks, and were patiently waiting. Turning around, Natsume realised that the path behind him was blocked too.

He tried to shout, maybe someone would hear him, but no sound escaped his lips. Persona smiled, and Natsume looked around frantically and found the reason behind his enforced silence. A man with the ability to shut someone up. It was stupid, at the same time as it was infuriating.

"You will speak when spoken to. Now hand her over."

Natsume breathed in slowly, then exhaled and put Mikan on the ground. He only exchanged one short glance with Ryuzaki before they both attacked.

It was like an explosion of flames and pain, a circle of fire and destruction that swept their opponents of their feet and sent them flying. Persona managed to dodge the flames, but went down on one knee as Ryuzaki's alice hit him with full force.

"That's enough!" Natsume shouted, but Ryuzaki didn't stop. He was now standing very close to Persona, looking down on him.

"I'm the one who's supposed to make him pay" Natsume repeated. "Stop it!"

Ryuzaki's concentration faltered, and that was enough for Persona to get up on his feet and jump onto the young man. One touch was enough, and Ryuzaki stumbled backwards, gripping his arm.

"Don't worry, it's not deadly. It just hurts a lot."

The young man was staring at the black mark that was spreading on his skin. Within seconds, his legs weren't strong enough to carry him, and he collapsed on the ground.

Natsume didn't stop looking at Persona. A ball of fire appeared in his palm as he readied himself.

"Don't be stupid, Natsume. I can help her."

"You've done enough!" the boy yelled, suddenly scared for Mikan.

"What if she doesn't wake up? You have to let me help her."

Persona took a step towards him, but Natsume held up his hands.

"Don't come any closer."

Natsume was suddenly swept from his feet and hit the ground, hard. Unnoticed by the black cat, one of Persona's men had snuck up behind him and was now trying to wrestle him down. Fighting with his fire, it wasn't very difficult to fend the man off, but from the corner of his eye, he saw Persona move. As he was got to his feet, he knew he wouldn't get to Mikan in time.

Persona was already kneeling next to her, reaching into his jacket pocket. He retrieved a small vial, and without hesitation, forced its content down her throat.

A cry of pure rage escaped Natsume's lips as he threw himself at the masked man, his hands ablaze. Persona jumped back, dodging the young man easily.

"Fight me!" Natsume yelled.

"It wouldn't do you any good."

"I said _fight me!_" Natsume was longing to cause him pain. For years already, he had carried that desire deep within his heart, but had never had the right reason or opportunity to follow it.

He created a large jet of flames and aimed it right at Persona, who jumped to the side. Natsume, having anticipated that, sent another salve flying into that direction, and hit his opponent square in the chest and on his right arm.

The masked man recognised that if he didn't do something fast, he would have no chance of escaping.

"You leave me no choice" he muttered between gritted teeth.

He advanced towards Natsume, who was breathing hard, recovering from the sudden loss of energy caused by his attack. With his outstretched hand, he was about to mark the young fire caster with his alice when he suddenly fell on his knee, clutching his sides.

Natsume followed his gaze and saw Ryuzaki, propped on his elbow, staring at the masked man intently and causing him more pain that was imaginable. The black cat admired his strength and his will. Admittedly, he hadn't expected as much from him.

"This is what you deserve" Natsume said darkly. Fireballs appeared in both of his hands as he took a step towards Persona, who was fighting against the pain. He raised his hands and allowed the flames to grow until he knew that the heat had become unbearable. The masked man turned his face away, not allowing himself to make a sound through his gritted teeth.

Suddenly, Natsume's flames disappeared, at the same time as Persona's pained expression. Ryuzaki fell back onto the ground and stayed there, inert.

Natsume looked around, slightly panicked because he couldn't access his ability anymore. He had only felt that once before. There was only one possible explanation.

And there she was, standing upright, looking him right in the eye.

"Mikan? _What are you doing?_"

"I'm doing what's right. You've killed enough, Natsume. Don't burden yourself any more."

He had a hard time understanding the young girl. Not because her words weren't clear, but because the way she said those words stood in stark contrast to the message she was delivering.

She stood tall in her ghost-like pallor, her legs trembling lightly under the effort. She was still so very weak.

"No, Mikan, you don't understand! If I don't kill him, he'll keep going. He won't stop."

"Not without his ability." Her voice was cold and distant, and suddenly, Natsume was very afraid.

"He's different, don't you see? No kill I have made before has mattered as much as this one. He _deserves_ to die, for everything he's done."

"You're right, he's different. That's exactly why you can't kill him; if you do, something will change. You won't be able to handle it. Who are you to decide?"

"That's not going to stop me. I've already killed so many! That's not the difference."

"But you didn't choose to. You were told. That's what's different."

"Mikan. Get out of the way."

"No."

Mikan held his gaze steadily, her eyes fixed onto his.

"I have to do this. You, of all people, should understand why. Look what he's done to you."

The young girl ignored him and turned towards Persona.

"Get out of here. Leave, and never come back."

"_No!_" Natsume shouted. "As long as he's out there, he'll still be a threat."

Mikan didn't even look at him.

"What did you do to her?" he growled, directed towards Persona. The masked man simply grinned. He stood up and took a step backwards.

"You'll see me again" he said, contempt and amusement clear in his voice.

"You really shouldn't have said that" Mikan whispered darkly. It was as if she was acting under someone's order, not taking any interest in what she was doing. Bored, almost.

Unnoticed by the others, she had started reaching out with her alice and woven a net around Persona's alice. From her work with Ryuzaki, Mikan knew that there was a natural barrier in everyone to keep the alice from leaving the body. Using that knowledge, she combined her nullification alice with that barrier and made it permanent. In other words, she locked Persona's alice into his body, making it inaccessible for him.

Mikan could feel her energy drain out of her as she sealed Persona's poisonous ability into his body, closing it so that nobody would be able to free it.

A strange fear gripped the masked man at the sudden, unfamiliar feeling of emptiness. He could feel his alice somewhere, deep within but well out of reach, trapped in his own body.

"There was no other way" Mikan said quietly. Persona's cry of rage accompanied his strike against her, but she easily avoided him by stepping to the side. His hand brushed the skin of her neck, but nothing happened. His alice was useless.

But the excessive use of her alice had taken its toll. Mikan swayed dangerously on her feet before she fell sideways. Not for the first time, Natsume was by her side in a heartbeat, catching her before she could hit the ground.

From the corner of his eyes, he spotted Persona and threw a fireball that missed his former teacher by mere inches. Another fireball appeared in his hand, but he kept it in his palm.

"Get out of here" Natsume sneered. It would be so easy for him to kill Persona now, but something held him back. Mikan wouldn't like it, and he knew he wouldn't be able to lie to her when she woke up.

Besides, living without power might possibly even be more of a punishment than just death.

Persona recognised his own defeat. Without a look back, he disappeared around the bend and into the nearby forest.

Natsume would make sure to set up a patrol to search the parameter, as well as a group to deal with Persona's surviving men.

"Natsume-kun" Mikan whispered in his arms, and he looked down at her. Natsume realised that she had been conscious the whole time. She focused her gaze onto his crimson eyes and he was unable to look away.

They she looked around and suddenly went very still.

She stood up and tried to walk, but Natsume had to support her. He didn't know if she could move on her own.

The young girl knelt down next to Ryuzaki's inert body.

"He'll be fine, won't he?" she whispered, not taking her eyes off his face. A thin line of blood was running out of his nose and was staining his lips.

The obvious was screaming her in the face, the coldness of his skin was a clear indicator, but she wouldn't take it.

Mikan lightly touched his cheek with her fingertips, willing him to wake up. It didn't matter that his heart had stopped beating and that he wasn't breathing anymore. He couldn't just leave her, not like that.

Natsume was tempted to say something, to reach out and touch her shoulder, to comfort her, but the pain and disbelief that were written on her face kept him from doing so. And so he sat in perfect stillness, giving her all the time and space in the world.

Mikan's eyes filled with tears as she broke down completely, and she threw herself over Ryuzaki's chest, breathing the familiar scent as her shoulders shook uncontrollably.

"Why are you leaving me?" she whispered into his chest, her hands clenched to fists. She placed her right hand under his head and lifted him up against her, holding him in a tight embrace as she cried.

"Why?"

The empty question that escaped her trembling lips was full of heartfelt pain, of loathing, of hatred and love. And of loneliness.

Mikan cried until she had the feeling she was completely dried up and couldn't cry any more. And even then, her cramped chest heaved and the sobs wouldn't stop.

When she finally relaxed, the sun had started rising, colouring the sky orange.

Finally, Natsume dared to speak.

"Mikan."

She turned towards him, her reddened eyes full of sorrow. Without a word, she threw herself into his arms and stayed there, shaking.

Hesitating ever so slightly, Natsume started stroking her hair and leaned to comfort her. His lips were resting against the top of her head. They stayed like that for a few more minutes until Natsume heard footsteps.

It was Hiroshi. Before the black cat could say anything, he spoke.

"I took care of Persona's men and the patrols. Standard procedures."

Natsume simply nodded, grateful that that task had been taken from him.

Hiroshi knelt down next to Ryuzaki and placed his hand on the dead man's shoulder. He bent his head down and closed his eyes, only his shaking shoulders betraying the intensity of his emotions.

When he was done grieving, Hiroshi picked his friend up and looked at Mikan. She nodded, trying hard not to start crying again, but the tears simply spilled over and onto her cheeks.

Hiroshi put his hand on her shoulder in a strangely comforting gesture before walking away, carrying Ryuzaki into the Academy where his body would be dealt with.

"We should go inside too. You need rest" Natsume whispered.

Mikan didn't move, but he took it as consent and lifted her up. As he started walking, the young girl protested.

"You don't have to carry me." Her voice was so quiet he almost didn't hear her.

Natsume had no idea why she was still conscious at this stage. After all the strain and torture, then the fight against Persona and finally Ryuzaki's death. The shock was probably keeping her awake. Emotion welled up in him again, for everything she had endured.

"I'm sorry" was all he could say, overwhelmed by what he was feeling. He didn't know how to tell her he loved her, he wasn't sure if he could ever let her know how much he cared about her.

"Don't be stupid" she muttered, sounding sleepy. Natsume looked down at her face and saw that she had closed her eyes, her expression finally settling into that of calmness. "You saved me."


End file.
